Candle Lake Limited, an investment firm associated with Cayman Islands investor Kenneth Dart, has made a mandatory public cash offer to acquire all remaining outstanding shares of Evolution AB. The offer is priced at SEK695 ($72.89) per share, which would value Evolution at approximately SEK131.7 billion based on a total of 189.45 million outstanding shares, excluding around 9.78 million treasury shares held by the company.
For shareholders not currently under Candle Lake's control, the total offer equates to approximately SEK90.1 billion. This move comes after Candle Lake's recent market purchases, which brought its holding above the mandatory bid threshold set by Swedish takeover regulations.
On July 24, Candle Lake increased its ownership in Evolution to 30% by acquiring an additional 2,050,000 shares at a maximum price of SEK695 each. Following this transaction, Candle Lake and its affiliates own 59,798,619 shares, which accounts for about 31.56% of the outstanding shares, thus triggering the mandatory bid. Additionally, Candle Lake has indirect economic exposure to about 4,037,416 shares, raising its total exposure to around 32.04%.
Candle Lake stated that their offer price reflects the closing price of Evolution on July 24, 2026, representing a premium of roughly 1.6% above the 20-day volume-weighted average closing price (VWAP) at that time. However, the offer price is about 5.7% lower than Evolution’s closing price on August 12, 2026, and shows a 3.3% discount relative to the 20-day VWAP on that later date.
The acceptance period for shareholders is anticipated to be from around August 17 until September 15, 2026. Should the offer be successful, settlement is expected to start on September 23, 2026.
Candle Lake characterized Evolution as a well-managed and highly profitable firm, indicating it does not plan to implement significant changes to Evolution’s operations, management team, employment terms, or operational sites. However, if it secures over 90% ownership, it intends to delist Evolution from Nasdaq Stockholm and take the company private.
The acquisition has been fully financed through available cash, liquid securities, and committed credit facilities. Candle Lake describes itself as a proprietary financial investment vehicle without any operational activities.
Since mid-2024, Candle Lake has been steadily increasing its shareholding in Evolution, having bought 10.46 million shares over the six months leading up to the mandatory offer. According to Nasdaq Stockholm’s takeover regulations, Evolution’s board is required to issue a statement regarding the offer no later than two weeks before the acceptance period expires.
Last month, Evolution terminated its planned merger with Galaxy Gaming, a provider of table games and casino technology. CEO Martin Carlesund remarked that while the merger was not essential to the business, Evolution would maintain its existing working relationship with Galaxy Gaming. This decision comes on the heels of a recent warning from the Gambling Commission that nearly led to the suspension of Evolution’s license in the UK for allowing its live casino games to be accessed on unlicensed websites available to UK consumers.
