Evoke names Janice Duncan as finance chief amid countdown on Bally’s takeover offer
Duncan previously worked at William Hill, Coral and Rank Interactive.
UK.- Evoke Plc, the former 888 Holdings, has named Janice Duncan as its new Group Finance Director as the deadline looms for Bally’s Intralot’s mooted takeover offer.
Duncan steps into the role after serving as CFO at the online casino brand Casumo. While she began her career in banking, first at National Australia Group and then Royal Bank of Scotland and RBC Insurance (now Direct Line Group), she moved into the gaming sector in 2013. She spent five years at Coral before moving to William Hill in 2018.
She became Finance Director at William Hill in 2019 and then moved to Rank Interactive as CFO in late 2020 and then to Casumo in 2023.
Announcing her new role, Duncan said she was “excited to join Evoke at such an important time in its journey.”
That excitement may be a reference to a potential £225m takeover offer for Evoke from Bally’s Intralot. Evoke confirmed in April that discussions were underway on a possible offer of 50 pence per share for its entire issued capital. The proposal could involve an all-share transaction with a partial cash alternative. The original deadline of May 18 has been extended until 8 June.
Reports from Sky News suggest that TPG Credit, a subsidiary of private equity giant TPG, is prepared to provide up to £800m to support the transaction, though the firm has declined to comment publicly. Evoke said it may agree to further extensions if necessary, while Bally’s Intralot retains the right to adjust the terms of any eventual offer.
Evoke bought the European assets of William Hill and Mr Green from Caesars for £2.2bn in 2022. A sale at £225m would represent a dramatic loss in value. The company’s share price is down from around £4 in 2021 to just 38.65p at market close today, although it’s up by 74 per cent in the year to date.
It began a strategic review in December, exploring both partial and full sale options after being hit by the announcement of the rise in British Remote Gaming Duty, which was upped from 21 to 40 per cent from April 1 of this year. The talks with Bally’s Intralot were revealed shortly after Evoke announced the closure of 200 William Hill shops across the UK. Bally’s already has a presence in the UK having launched a Bally’s-branded online casino back in 2023.
