Candle Lake Limited, an investment group led by Kenneth Dart from the Cayman Islands, has announced its intention to make a mandatory public offer to acquire all remaining shares of Evolution AB. The offer is priced at SEK695 (approximately $72.89) per share, which values Evolution at around SEK131.7 billion, considering there are 189.45 million outstanding shares, excluding nearly 9.78 million treasury shares.
The total value of the offer for shareholders not already under Candle Lake's control is roughly SEK90.1 billion. This acquisition attempt comes after Candle Lake's recent market activities pushed its holdings beyond the mandatory bid threshold set by Swedish takeover regulations.
Candle Lake increased its stake in Evolution to 30% on July 24 by purchasing an additional 2,050,000 shares at the maximum price of SEK695 each. Following these transactions, Candle Lake and its affiliated parties now hold 59,798,619 shares of Evolution, which is approximately 31.56% of the outstanding shares, thus activating the obligation to extend a public offer.
Additionally, the investment vehicle has an indirect economic interest in about 4,037,416 shares, raising its total exposure to roughly 32.04%. The offer price is aligned with Evolution's closing share price on July 24, 2026, and sits about 1.6% higher than the 20-day volume-weighted average closing price (VWAP) up to that date. However, the offer shows a discount of approximately 5.7% against Evolution's closing price on August 12, 2026, and a 3.3% discount when compared to the 20-day VWAP at that time.
The timeline for shareholder acceptance runs from August 17 until September 15, 2026, with the settlement expected to commence on September 23, 2026.
Candle Lake has characterized Evolution as a well-run entity with strong profitability, stating it does not plan significant changes to its operations, management, or staffing. However, should Candle Lake secure more than 90% ownership, it intends to delist Evolution from Nasdaq Stockholm and transition the company to private ownership.
The financial backing for this offer comes from Candle Lake's available cash, liquid securities, and committed credit facilities, with the firm identifying itself strictly as a financial investor without operational activities.
The acquisition journey for Candle Lake began in mid-2024 when it started to build its shareholding in Evolution. Over the six months leading to this mandatory offer, Candle Lake secured a total of 10.46 million shares.
According to Nasdaq Stockholm's takeover regulations, Evolution’s board is required to provide a statement about the offer no later than two weeks before the acceptance period ends. Just a month ago, Evolution scrapped its merger plans with Galaxy Gaming, a table games and casino technology supplier. CEO Martin Carlesund noted the cancellation was not crucial to Evolution's business, emphasizing that the company would continue to partner with Galaxy Gaming under their existing arrangement. This development follows a recent scare when Evolution's license nearly faced suspension in the UK due to the Gambling Commission finding its live casino offerings on unlicensed websites accessible to UK customers.
