{"id":16,"date":"2026-07-24T08:31:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1xbett.xyz\/?p=16"},"modified":"2026-07-24T08:31:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:31:06","slug":"bdo-director-uk-operators-using-rgd-hike-to-re-evaluate-cost-base-and-consider-ma-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1xbett.xyz\/?p=16","title":{"rendered":"
BDO director: UK operators using RGD hike to re-evaluate cost base and consider M&A opportunities<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the dust begins to settle on the April Remote Gambling Duty increase<\/a> in the UK, online and land-based operators are re-evaluating their positions and their cost base within the market.<\/p>\n

Speaking during iGB Live\u2019s first M&A Summit<\/a> in July, BDO corporate finance director Ollie Woodward told iGB the focus for a number of operators was to consider the sustainability of its player base.<\/p>\n

Entain last week announced a significant restructuring of its operations<\/a>, which could result in up to 500 global roles being cut. Although it emphasised the overhaul was actually not in response to the UK tax hike.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other players like Bally\u2019s Intralot viewed the tax hike as an opportunity. They swooped in to acquire Evoke<\/a> after the operator reported various struggles, including its response to the tax hike. Bally\u2019s Intralot CEO Robeson Reeves told analysts in April the deal would support its European expansion plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Restructuring and M&A efforts have become a priority for operators navigating today\u2019s UK market, and Woodward says these conversations are dominating BDO\u2019s gaming M&A team\u2019s current workload.<\/p>\n

Re-evaluating people and technology <\/h2>\n

\u201c[Client] conversations have evolved to \u2018how do we look at our cost base and\u00a0right\u00a0size\u00a0that?\u2019 Obviously, it\u2019s a balancing act and many of our clients and operators feel that if they can stay strong in this period, there will be market opportunities with some smaller players not being able to effectively live with these tax changes,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\u201c[The tax hike] comes at an intersection where I think a lot of businesses would have been looking at their cost base from an AI perspective anyway. I would say some of the larger, more established players\u00a0are really looking at their people, their technology and saying, \u2018How do we, how do we evolve this,\u00a0right size this? There must be a margin benefit there.’\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the BDO M&A team is currently working with around five or six UK gambling businesses through \u201cbig transactional processes\u201d across the B2C online and land-based sectors and the online supplier side.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome are looking to new markets outside of the UK, places like Canada with Alberta going online, thinking \u2018Look, we need to look at other markets for growth here.’\u201d<\/p>\n

How are player cohorts evolving?<\/h2>\n

Woodward says analysing how player cohorts are and will continue to evolve over the next year, is an area of focus for operators in the post-RGD hike landscape. <\/p>\n

This includes considering return-to-player (RTP) rates, marketing mix and marketing spend. \u201cUltimately, it\u00a0comes down to the sustainability of your earnings and your player base,\u201d he notes. <\/p>\n

Although the RDG hike has inevitably squeezed sector margins, the overall sentiment among clients, Woodward notes, is \u201cresilience and bullishness\u201d as operators explore ways combat that strain. <\/p>\n

Reporting unregulated revenue<\/h2>\n

Speaking during BDO\u2019s panel at the iGB Live M&A Summit, Woodward highlighted the huge importance being placed on reporting regulated versus unregulated revenues, in today\u2019s M&A landscape.<\/p>\n

Reporting unregulated revenue is crucial from a sell-side perspective, as buyers are increasingly seeking extremely highly regulated oppotunities. <\/p>\n

Notably, major industry players like Bet365<\/a> and Yolo Group<\/a> have been actively exiting or downsizing their black or grey market operations in the last year or so. <\/p>\n

When asked after the panel about the process of reporting one\u2019s unregulated revenue split during a due diligence or deal process, Woodward says the first question for companies is \u201cfrom a legal and structuring perspective, are you able to ring fence those operations if you\u2019re trying to go through either a sale or a carve out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise it becomes very difficult to separate those operations,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut then, from an operational perspective, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll find most businesses are already reporting on their individual KPIs down to a level where they\u2019re able to quite easily separate those. Actually understanding the value of those different parts of the business can be done quite easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regulated revenues much more attractive in potential M&A<\/h2>\n

He acknowledges than in today\u2019s gaming M&A landscape regulated revenues are being deemed as more attractive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re easier to exit. They\u2019re attracting higher multiples. A lot of the big groups are moving towards either 90 plus percent regulated or at least soon to be regulated. So you are seeing this kind of divergence between the operator base.\u201d <\/p>\n

From a reputational perspective, players with legacy unregulated revenues or operations are not to be immediately blacklisted when it comes to a possible deal. <\/p>\n

Instead, Woodward says it very much depends on what those acitvities looked like. Do they include operating in grey markets pre-regulation, but then applying for and receiving a formal licence once legislation is in place?<\/p>\n

That might be perceived very differently to operating in black markets where online gambling is actively illegal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely is something that people look at and people want to understand what were the management decisions at that time. Were they made in a sense that they thought these markets might go live, and how did they act actually when they did become regulated?\u201d Woodward concludes. <\/p>\n

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\"Nicole<\/div>\n

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Nicole Macedo<\/a><\/h3>\n

Nicole cut her teeth in local news rooms at home in Gibraltar, and helped to establish the peninsula\u2019s first online-only broadcaster.<\/p>\n