Kenneth Dart’s investment vehicle Candle Lake Limited crossed 30% of the shares in Evolution AB on 24 July, triggering a mandatory bid obligation under Swedish takeover law. Seven days later, on 31 July, Flutter Entertainment’s shares trade in London for the last time.
Two of the largest gambling companies listed in Europe are reducing their exposure to European public markets in the same fortnight. The mechanisms are not the same, and neither are the outcomes. Evolution may be pushed off Nasdaq Stockholm by a shareholder it did not choose. Flutter is leaving the London Stock Exchange on its own terms and staying public in New York.
Dart crosses the threshold in Stockholm
Candle Lake Limited acquired 2,050,000 Evolution shares, lifting its holding to 59,798,619 shares, or 30.02% of the company. The Cayman Islands-based vehicle is controlled by US billionaire Kenneth Dart, whose family fortune originated with the Dart Container foam cup business.
Under Chapter 3 of the Swedish Act on Public Takeovers, a shareholder passing 30% of the votes in a listed company must either launch a mandatory offer for the remaining shares or reduce the holding back below 30%. Candle Lake disclosed the crossing on Friday 24 July and has four weeks to choose.
The price is not open-ended. A mandatory offer must be pitched at no less than the highest price the bidder paid for shares in the preceding period, which in Candle Lake’s case sits at approximately SEK 700 per share, around €63.75. That sets a floor, not a premium. Dart is under no obligation to offer more than the minimum, and Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri has cautioned shareholders against expecting a generous number.
Candle Lake’s statement was explicit that the disclosure “is not an offer to acquire shares”. Dart has held positions in tobacco and gambling equities for years without moving to control the underlying businesses, which has prompted speculation that he will sell down rather than bid. That reading leaves the question of why the threshold was crossed at all.
Evolution’s buyback and the share count
Evolution’s own capital allocation is part of the arithmetic. The board resolved in April 2026 on a share buyback programme of €2 billion, running until the 2027 annual general meeting, after the company moved away from dividends in favour of repurchases. Under the Swedish Companies Act and the AGM mandate, Evolution cannot hold more than 10% of its own shares, capping repurchases at 19,922,661 shares out of 199,226,613 in issue.
Evolution has been buying steadily. It acquired 994,946 shares between 6 and 10 July and a further 1,023,577 between 20 and 24 July, and held 6,734,358 shares in treasury. Every share bought back reduces the base against which other holdings are measured, so a shareholder who buys nothing still sees its percentage rise. Candle Lake bought 2,050,000 shares, and the buyback lowered the number it had to clear.
Evolution’s market capitalisation stood at around SEK 136.26 billion on 18 July, with 191.49 million shares outstanding.
Evolution Q2: revenue down 1.2%, margin unchanged
Evolution reported second-quarter net revenues of €517.8 million on 17 July, down 1.2% from €524.3 million in Q2 2025. At constant currency the company estimates growth of 2.4%. EBITDA was €341.0 million against €345.3 million, holding the margin at 65.9%. Profit for the period rose to €251.4 million from €248.3 million, and earnings per share reached €1.27 from €1.22.
For the first half, net revenues fell 1.4% to €1,030.8 million, with EBITDA of €676.3 million at a 65.6% margin and profit of €503.4 million.
Regionally, Europe grew 3.5% quarter-on-quarter to €173 million after several quarters of decline. Latin America grew 26.3% year-on-year and North America 9.5%, helped by Monopoly Live launches in four US states and a second Michigan studio. Asia fell 3.7% quarter-on-quarter, which the company attributed in part to increased cybercrime activity.
“Revenue and margin are moving in the right direction compared to the first quarter, cost control remains strong, cash flow is improving, and we continue to expand in key markets while executing on our product roadmap,” said CEO Martin Carlesund.
The quarter closed alongside two regulatory events. Evolution settled the UK Gambling Commission’s licence review for £4.75 million, with the review finding no broader pattern of unlicensed access to its content in the UK. Days later, on 21 July, Evolution gave notice of termination of its agreement to acquire US table game supplier Galaxy Gaming, a deal announced in July 2024 at around $85 million that had waited two years for state approvals, including an outstanding sign-off in Nevada. Evolution owes a $5.2 million termination fee.
The regulatory record feeds the take-private argument. Evolution has spent three years contesting allegations about supply into prohibited jurisdictions, originating in a dossier commissioned by rival Playtech, which Evolution has denied and is litigating. Analysts and industry commentators have argued that Evolution’s listed status has drawn a higher level of scrutiny than privately held suppliers face, and that private ownership would reduce it. Evolution has not made that case itself.
Flutter leaves London by choice
Flutter announced its intention to delist from the LSE on 12 June, after a review opened following its first-quarter results in May. The last day of trading in London is 31 July and the delisting takes effect on 3 August. The New York Stock Exchange listing continues.
The stated reasons are administrative rather than strategic reinvention: low trading volumes in London, and the cost and regulatory burden of maintaining a second listing. Flutter had already moved its primary listing to the NYSE in May 2024, approved by close to 98% of shareholders, and the London line had been secondary since.
“A US primary listing is the natural home for Flutter given FanDuel’s number one position in the US,” CEO Peter Jackson said at the time of the 2024 move.
UK and other non-US investors holding Flutter through the LSE will need to trade on the NYSE from 3 August. Index membership and mandates tied to UK-listed equities are the practical constraint, and some institutional holders have been repositioning: BlackRock crossed the 5% threshold in Flutter in May, ahead of the listing review’s conclusion.
Flutter Q1: revenue up 17%, guidance trimmed
Flutter reported first-quarter revenue of $4,304 million, up 17% year-on-year, when it disclosed the LSE listing review in May. Adjusted EBITDA rose 2% to $631 million, a margin of 14.7%. Net income fell 38% to $209 million on higher interest and amortisation costs.
Flutter reviews LSE listing as Q1 revenue rises 17% to $4.3bn
The US segment produced revenue of $1,763 million and adjusted EBITDA of $119 million. International revenue was $2,541 million with adjusted EBITDA of $587 million, meaning the non-US business still generated the large majority of group earnings in the quarter.
Flutter cut its full-year 2026 guidance to $18.305 billion of revenue and $2.865 billion of adjusted EBITDA at the midpoint, from $18.4 billion and $2.97 billion. That implies 12% revenue growth and 1% adjusted EBITDA growth for the year. Second-quarter results are due in August.
The company also reorganised its leadership: Dan Taylor, CEO of Flutter International, took the new role of President of Flutter Entertainment with oversight of FanDuel, while Christian Genetski leads the US business.
Two different exits
The comparison is easy to overstate. Flutter is not going private. It is consolidating two listings into one and remains subject to SEC reporting, quarterly earnings and NYSE rules. What changes is where its shares trade and which investor base sets the price, which is the US market where FanDuel’s performance drives the equity story.
Evolution’s position was set by a third party. A single shareholder crossed a statutory line, and Swedish law now forces a binary decision within four weeks. If Candle Lake bids and secures enough acceptances, Evolution’s public life ends. If it sells down, nothing changes except the share register and a period of pressure on the price.
What the two do share is the direction of travel. European public markets are hosting fewer of the sector’s largest names. Allwyn relocated to Switzerland and listed in Athens through the OPAP merger. Evoke agreed an all-share takeover by Bally’s Intralot. Codere put itself up for sale. Evolution and Flutter now sit at either end of the same trend, one facing a compulsory offer and the other choosing New York. Both are among the largest constituents of the sector’s top companies by market capitalisation.
What happens next
Candle Lake’s four-week window closes in the third week of August. Evolution’s board has not commented publicly on the crossing, and any mandatory offer would require a formal response from the board and an independent fairness opinion under Swedish takeover rules.
Flutter’s London delisting takes effect on 3 August, with second-quarter results and any revision to full-year guidance following later in the month. Whether the delisting changes anything for Flutter’s valuation will not be clear from a single quarter, and the more consequential number will be the US segment’s margin trajectory against the reduced full-year target.
Source: Candle Lake Limited, Evolution AB and Flutter Entertainment
