Evolution has accepted a £4.75 million settlement from UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), completing the licensing examination, which the company began in December 2024.
The investigation revealed that Evolution was delivering its games to players in the UK using two third-party agents on six unlicensed sites, which violated its obligations. The company claims that it worked with the UKGC to eliminate the offending parties.
It was also noted that the company expressed satisfaction with the examination’s conclusion and was willing to continue providing services for legal operators in the UK.
Commenting on the outcome, Evolution CEO Martin Carlesund said:
At Evolution, we always want to do what is right, and it is not acceptable that six unlicensed sites offered Evolution content in the regulated UK market. We do not want traffic from unlicensed operators and will always move quickly to address any such situation. We welcome the conclusion of the review and remain focused on continuing to supply our world-leading games to licensed operators in the UK.
During the investigation, Evolution improved its compliance tracking and started to implement tougher geo-blocking and ring-fencing measures across Europe to make sure that unlicensed operators could not gain access to its games.
The changes brought by the investigation into Evolution’s business caused a deterioration of the company’s financial performance. Its overall net revenue did not change at €2.07 billion while the profit decreased by 14.6% to €1.1 billion and EBITDA fell by 9.2% to €1.4 billion.
After the settlement was reached, the company’s shares appreciated significantly as investors were satisfied with the outcome of the UKGC investigation.