William Hill's parent company Evoke just announced it's shopping itself around after getting wrecked by debt and brutal tax hikes on online gambling. Morgan Stanley and Rothschild are handling the sale process, but the company warned there's no guarantee anybody will actually buy them. The group already said it's shutting down about 10 percent of betting shops next year to stop the financial bleeding.
Britain's recent Budget absolutely demolished its business model by cranking remote gaming duty from 21 percent to 40 percent and jacking online sports betting taxes from 15 percent to 25 percent. That's adding somewhere between $125 million and $135 million to their yearly tax bill once everything kicks in, and they already pulled their financial targets because the numbers don't work anymore.
The whole situation is a mess for one of the most recognizable gambling brands in the country, and the board basically decided they needed to figure out if staying independent even makes sense at this point.
Britain's recent Budget absolutely demolished its business model by cranking remote gaming duty from 21 percent to 40 percent and jacking online sports betting taxes from 15 percent to 25 percent. That's adding somewhere between $125 million and $135 million to their yearly tax bill once everything kicks in, and they already pulled their financial targets because the numbers don't work anymore.
The whole situation is a mess for one of the most recognizable gambling brands in the country, and the board basically decided they needed to figure out if staying independent even makes sense at this point.
