Evoke acquires 51% stake in Romanian operator Winner
888 and William Hill parent company to combine brand with its local 888 platform, as Romania set to become firm’s fifth core market
Evoke has bolstered its presence in Romania after snapping up 51% of Winner.ro for €10m (£8.5m), with the London-listed company claiming its combined business will be the fourth-largest operator in the market.
As part of the deal, evoke will merge Winner.ro with its Romania-facing 888.ro business, with a combined market share of approximately 7%.
Evoke noted it would run a multi-brand strategy in the regulated Eastern European market, which it said would leverage “a local hero brand alongside a highly complementary, world-renowned casino brand”.
The deal will mean evoke acquires New Gambling Solutions, the parent company behind Winner.ro.
Based on an undisclosed 2026 earn-out calculation, evoke will own between 51% and 57%, with the option to take ownership to 100% three years after the acquisition closes.
As a result of the transaction, Romania is set to become the group’s fifth core market after the UK, Italy, Spain and Denmark.
The promotion to core market comes as evoke cited data from Regulus Partners that suggested the Romanian market generated around €1.1bn in net revenue in 2023, with a CAGR rate of 13% between 2023 and 2026.
Launched in 2019, Winner.ro has established a strong market presence in the five years that have followed. In H1 2024, the operator generated around €19m in gross gaming revenue (GGR), evoke said.
It has also been confirmed that the combined business will benefit from a “highly localised technology, product and player platform” via the third-party Newton platform.
The newly formed brand will be spearheaded by Nicklas Zajdel, the current Winner CEO, who joined the firm last year. Evoke said he has overseen profitable growth and the rollout of a brand new product suite.
Zajdel formerly spent time with Central and Eastern European operator Fortuna Entertainment Group and Ladbrokes before shifting over to Winner.
A local management team of around 80 staff will be bolstered by 500 existing evoke employees based in Romania.
Evoke added that the deal was in line with its strategy to focus on “low-capital, high-impact routes to value creation”.
Per Widerström, evoke CEO, said: “I am excited to announce the addition of Winner to the evoke portfolio. This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to build sustainable market-leading profitable positions in the most attractive markets.
“It is also consistent with our M&A strategy to focus on low-capital, high-impact combinations that accelerate the delivery of our strategy.
“We have enjoyed significant success in Romania, which is an exciting growth market. This combination will cement a leading position for evoke, and I am looking forward to working with the whole team at Winner to deliver ongoing profitable growth and market share gains, as we deliver exceptional products through two incredibly strong and complementary brands.”
Zajdel shared a similar sentiment to Widerström, adding: “This is an incredibly exciting transaction, bringing together our local-hero brand, with one of the world’s strongest international casino brands.
“Romania is a high-growth market, and this combination sets us on the path to a sustainable, profitable, market-leading position.
“Winner has a strong leadership team and we are building on our success in the market through our highly localised approach, and competitive advantages such as our product platform, our enhanced personalisation and wide network of deposit points.”
Partis Capital acted as financial adviser to NGS over the course of the transaction.
The deal is expected to close in Q3 and will not change evoke’s recently issued full-year 2024 guidance, with revenue growth of between 5-9% likely to come by the end of the year, alongside an improved EBITDA margin of 21%.
Following news of the acquisition, evoke shares were up 3% to 71p.