GiG Buys Control of 888AFRICA and Brings a B2C Growth Engine Into a Leaner iGaming Platform

GiG Software has agreed principal commercial terms with Virtual Emerging Entertainment Limited, an Evoke plc subsidiary, to purchase 80% of 888 Africa Limited. The stated consideration is €16.4m: €6.0m at the initial payment and €10.4m deferred. The definitive share purchase agreement and approvals remain ahead, while GiG’s Q2 presentation places completion by the end of September 2026.[1] [3]

Commercially, the transaction changes the composition of GiG. The buyer is a B2B technology and services supplier that entered 2026 focused on cost reduction, CoreX migration and a more selective launch pipeline. 888AFRICA gives that platform a B2C operating business which GiG describes as profitable, cash-generative and high growth. Its investor presentation cites a c.$50m annualised NGR run rate, 30% year-on-year Q2 revenue growth and more than $1m of net cash generated in the quarter.[3]

The consideration is stated as €6.0m initially and €10.4m deferred. The public announcement does not yet explain the timetable, performance conditions or security arrangements for the deferred element.

“Africa’s online gambling sector offers an unparalleled long-term growth opportunity, driven by demographic, mobile and regulatory tailwinds.”

Richard Carter · Chief Executive Officer, GiG Software

“It is our ambition to build the business towards market-leading positions in selected regulated markets across the region.”

Christopher Coyne · Co-Founder and CEO, 888AFRICA

The purchase is structured to keep the original operating team invested. GiG says the founders retain the remaining 20% and stay active in management. In a business where country selection, payments, local product and customer acquisition are core operating disciplines, that retention is more than a governance footnote. It preserves local operating knowledge while the buyer supplies capital, public-market reporting and a broader technology platform.

GiG completed a €2.5m directed share issue and entered into €6.0m of two-year convertible loans on 26 August. The new capital totals €8.5m, which exceeds the €6.0m initial consideration before transaction costs and general corporate purposes. The equity issue was priced at SEK 1.725 per SDR and represents c.9% dilution on issue. The loans carry 15% annual interest, paid semi-annually, and permit conversion of 25% of principal every six months at a 10% discount to the ten-day VWAP preceding the conversion notice.[2]

€8.5m raised on 26 August 2026 to fund the initial payment and corporate purposes.

€2.5m of directed equity and €6.0m of convertible loans were completed on the announcement date. The equity issue carries c.9% dilution; the loan conversion price will only be known if and when conversion notices are served.

The lender and subscriber list also matters. GiG identifies its largest shareholders, the MJ Foundation and ZJ Foundation, plus chief executive Richard Carter, as subscribers to the share issue. Carter, Myrild AS and Nalavio Limited are named as convertible lenders. That combination gives the buyer speed at a point when the seller has a time-sensitive 2026 conversion right in its historic 888AFRICA funding structure. It also puts both equity and conversion overhang squarely into the post-close capital-management agenda.[2] [7]

888AFRICA began in 2022 as a joint venture between 888 and five industry veterans. The original structure paired the 888 brand with a locally experienced management team, a third-party technology platform and products designed for African-market preferences. The founding team included Christopher Coyne, Andrew Lee, Alex Rutherford, Ian Marmion and Helen Scott-Allen.[5]

Four years later, GiG’s presentation describes an operator that grew from a late-2022 start-up into a c.$50m annualised NGR run rate. The disclosed current operating footprint is Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania. GiG calls Mozambique a market-leading position, while 888AFRICA’s own CEO has explained that country entry depends on political stability, workable tax conditions and room for sustainable customer acquisition.[3] [6]

Buyer presentation data, Q2 2026. Mixed units are presented as labelled operating reference points.

Annualised NGR run ratec.$50mCompany presentation disclosure. It is buyer-presented operating information, not an audited standalone financial statement.Q2 revenue growth, YoY30%Company presentation disclosure. It is buyer-presented operating information, not an audited standalone financial statement.Q2 revenue growth, QoQ19%Company presentation disclosure. It is buyer-presented operating information, not an audited standalone financial statement.Q2 net cash generatedmore than $1mCompany presentation disclosure. It is buyer-presented operating information, not an audited standalone financial statement.

GiG cites a c.$50m annualised NGR run rate, 30% year-on-year Q2 revenue growth, 19% sequential growth and more than $1m of Q2 net cash generation. The evidence explains the strategic interest but is not a basis for a derived valuation.

888 brand route

The original venture licensed a familiar international gaming brand into selected regulated African markets.

Local management

The retained 20% keeps the founding team economically aligned through the next phase of expansion.

Platform optionality

The target launched on third-party technology; GiG brings a proprietary B2B platform estate and a clearer integration choice.

The asset’s practical value sits in its operating flywheel rather than a headline revenue multiple. Regulatory access, mobile product design, payment conversion, customer support and marketing calibration move together in each country. GiG’s public presentation gives investors a useful operating snapshot, but it is not a set of audited stand-alone accounts. Target contribution, tax rates, cohort economics and the composition of annualised NGR remain items for fuller disclosure after signing or close.

GiG reported Q2 2026 revenue of €8.8m and adjusted EBITDA of €0.8m, following H1 revenue of €17.8m and adjusted EBITDA of €1.0m. The reported top line was affected by the insolvency of Richmond Atlantic and lower non-recurring revenue. Management has responded with €4.5m of annualised savings delivered and a further €6.0m targeted, primarily through the closure of the white-label business and exits from the United States and Philippines.[3]

Q2 revenue was €8.8m versus €9.3m a year earlier; H1 revenue was €17.8m versus €18.4m. Management attributes the movement principally to the Richmond Atlantic insolvency and lower non-recurring revenue.

The operating reset gives the 888AFRICA move a more specific logic than simple geographic expansion. GiG’s core business is actively shifting customers from the legacy Alira platform to CoreX, rationalising a lower-return footprint and concentrating investment on contracted launches and regulated markets. The acquisition introduces a B2C cash-generation profile beside that refocused B2B base. In management’s language, it is intended to create a more diversified group and a second engine of growth.[3]

Delivered and targeted annualised cost savings, EUR millions.

GiG reports €4.5m of annualised savings delivered and a further €6.0m targeted. The €10.5m total is an Acquiry calculation of those two figures, not company guidance for any single period.

Acquiry inference The buyer is not merely adding a territory. It is attempting to exchange part of the volatility inherent in client launch cycles for direct exposure to an operator whose economics are controlled closer to the player relationship. The evidence behind that case will be the combined group’s cash conversion after the acquisition and the first reporting period that separates recurring B2B growth from the B2C contribution.

888’s 2022 investment was intentionally structured as a minority position with a potential path to control. Evoke’s H1 2026 accounts say the group held 19.9% of 888 Africa Limited’s ordinary share capital and had advanced a senior secured convertible loan that could convert into 60.1% of the company’s issued shares at the group’s discretion in August 2026. The loan appeared as a £10.6m Level 3 financial asset at 30 June 2026.[7]

The seller also received brand-licence income from 888AFRICA: £1.2m in FY2025 and £0.7m in H1 2026. Those flows frame a relationship that began as a low-distraction option on African growth for the parent and is now being converted into a cash consideration plus deferred payments from GiG.[8] [7]

Acquiry inference The calendar matters. GiG announced its proposal two weeks after Evoke’s H1 reporting and in the same month as the historic loan’s elective conversion window. That sequence makes the transaction read as a structured monetisation of a maturing strategic option, rather than an exit from a dormant investment.

The original investment coupled 19.9% ordinary ownership with a convertible route to further control. The proposed sale covers an 80% stake.

GiG identifies Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania as the target’s operating markets. That is a focused footprint, not a continental roll-up. It gives the combined group three working environments in which management can test the repeatability of product, payments and customer-acquisition processes, while avoiding the analytical error of treating African gaming as one market.[3]

Current target markets identified in GiG’s Q2 2026 presentation.

GiG identifies Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania. The bars show disclosed operating status only; they are not a measure of country revenue, market share or regulatory difficulty.

Christopher Coyne’s public comments provide an operating lens on why. He has described stability and tax conditions as first-order entry criteria, cited Malawi as an opportunity with limited competition, and described Kenya’s advertising and tax environment as restrictive for operator growth. That distinction is commercially useful: demand may be regional, while the rules governing marketing, affordability, payments and tax are market by market.[6]

Selective entry

Market presence signals a country-by-country approach built around viable operating conditions.

Local execution

Founder continuity gives GiG an experienced team for decisions on tax, marketing and customer propositions.

Regulated perimeter

The original venture was formed to pursue selected regulated markets, a principle that needs to carry through signing and close.

Expansion option

Additional markets remain optionality, not part of the announced transaction consideration or FY2026 financial outlook.

GiG’s investor presentation supplies the central operating case: c.$50m annualised NGR, 19% sequential revenue growth and 30% year-on-year revenue growth in Q2 2026, EBITDA margin expansion as cost actions take effect, and more than $1m of net cash generated in the quarter. It also says the business achieved its current scale from a late-2022 start.[3]

The distinction in the caption matters. These are public company presentation metrics, not audited standalone target statements and not a basis to infer enterprise value, EBITDA or any acquisition multiple. They do, however, show why the €16.4m consideration needs to be read alongside operating cash generation and management’s combined FY2026 guidance rather than as a conventional B2B software purchase.

GiG guidance assuming a full 888AFRICA contribution in Q4 2026. EUR millions.

The published guidance range is €44m to €48m of revenue and €5m to €7m of adjusted EBITDA. It is forward-looking company guidance, contingent on acquisition completion and a full Q4 target contribution.

The immediate benchmark is GiG’s own combined outlook, which anticipates FY2026 revenue of €44m to €48m and adjusted EBITDA of €5m to €7m, assuming a full contribution from 888AFRICA for Q4 2026. The company expects the combined group to become quarterly cash-flow positive after integration. These are forward-looking company expectations rather than reported results.[3]

The financing package is direct. The €2.5m equity issue covers a minority of the €8.5m raise, with €6.0m supplied through two-year convertible loans. The equity component was placed with existing shareholders. The loan lenders include GiG’s CEO, and 25% of the loan principal becomes eligible for conversion every six months at a 10% discount to the preceding ten-day VWAP. The future conversion price is unavailable until a notice is delivered, so resulting dilution cannot be quantified today.[2]

The equity issue supplied 29.4% of gross funding and the convertible loans supplied 70.6%. The 15% coupon and the future 10% VWAP conversion discount make the loan terms central to the post-close capital equation.

Acquiry calculation€8.5m completed financing − €6.0m initial consideration = €2.5m of gross funding capacity before transaction costs and stated general corporate purposes.This arithmetic describes gross proceeds and the initial payment only. It is not a pro forma cash balance, purchase-price allocation or liquidity forecast.

Acquiry inference The structure gives GiG enough cash to execute the opening step without waiting for a broader rights process. The trade-off is visible: equity holders absorb immediate 9% dilution and potential conversion dilution later, while the convertible lenders receive 15% annual cash interest. A cash-generative target can support the narrative, but the first combined reporting periods need to show the cash profile that makes the financing economically comfortable.

GiG sells technology to operators. 888AFRICA operates directly in markets where mobile acquisition, trading, payments and retention decisions turn into daily P&L. The target’s retained management team brings practical operating context, while the buyer has a product portfolio built around the CoreX platform and regulated-market delivery. The companies have not published a detailed technology roadmap, so any platform migration remains an integration choice rather than an announced outcome.[3] [5]

Acquiry inference The strategic prize is a tighter loop between supplier product development and operator economics. If managed with the right commercial boundaries, the group could learn from its own B2C deployment while retaining the trust of external B2B customers. The value rests less on a headline synergy number than on whether that operating learning translates into better launch, retention and payment performance across the wider platform.

A direct operating asset can create a feedback loop for product, payments and customer understanding. The commercial boundary with third-party operators will be central.

GiG has said the incumbent management team retains 20% and will remain active. That is the right starting point for an asset whose local experience is central to its value. The harder work begins after signing: establishing decision rights, mapping the brand and technology arrangements that originated under Evoke, agreeing data and commercial boundaries with GiG’s B2B operator customers, and sequencing any platform decisions around a live trading business.

Acquiry inference on delivery confidence and operating horizon.

Founder continuity is disclosed and is therefore the highest-confidence integration foundation. Technology migration and the B2B learning loop are longer-horizon choices, requiring specific governance and operational evidence after close.

Keep country-level trading, payments and customer decisions close to the retained management team while a new group reporting rhythm is introduced.

Convert the historic 888 licence and third-party technology arrangements into a post-close operating map before planning any migration.

External GiG operators need transparent governance around data, roadmap priorities and commercial separation from the controlled B2C asset.

Build the first integrated reporting pack around NGR, marketing productivity, payment costs, regulatory charges and operating cash generation.

GiG already has a migration program moving customers from the legacy Alira platform to CoreX. The 888AFRICA deal should be sequenced alongside, rather than folded into, that program. A target operating at a high growth rate benefits from clear priorities more than from early technical ambition. The company has not announced a migration timetable for the target.

The target was formed in 2022 and began scaling through a period in which Evoke provided brand access and shareholder loans. GiG’s August 2026 proposal comes after a first half in which the buyer was simplifying its operating base. The timing sequence now matters: funded capital is in place, but the acquisition still requires a definitive share purchase agreement, approvals and completion mechanics.

Historic operating milestones, proposed acquisition and expected next steps.

The funding milestone is complete. The acquisition status is different: GiG has agreed principal commercial terms but remains subject to signing and approvals. The stated end-September timing is company guidance from the Q2 presentation.

GiG’s Q2 presentation estimates completion by the end of September 2026. That should be viewed as company timing guidance. The principal-terms announcement names approvals but does not set out the jurisdictions, conditions, long-stop date or allocation of any closing risk. The first practical data point will be confirmation of the definitive agreement and the scope of applicable approvals.[1] [3]

A clearer B2C exposure

The upside sits in the target’s reported growth and cash profile; the funding cost and future conversion remain the counterweights.

Control capital with alignment

Retained 20% ownership and active management preserve participation in further country development.

A new governance question

Clients will look for evidence that product and data priorities remain commercially even-handed as the group owns an operator.

For Evoke, the proposed transaction repositions an African strategic investment inside its wider portfolio transition. The seller’s historic structure had already created a route to control through the convertible loan. The sale turns that exposure into initial and deferred consideration, subject to signing and close, while the original managers keep a minority holding.[1] [7]

For the regional sector, the deal provides a compact example of how a global supplier can move nearer to the end customer in markets where local execution is both a source of advantage and a source of operating complexity. It is neither a pan-African category bet nor a generic geographic expansion. It is a three-market operating acquisition where customer economics, regulation and capital structure will be visible quickly.

GiG has chosen a target whose disclosed operating profile can matter immediately to a leaner group. The €6.0m initial payment is supported by €8.5m of completed financing; the seller receives a deferred-consideration runway; and the founding team remains invested. The fit is clearest at the operating level: a B2B technology company gains direct insight into B2C performance in three active markets, while 888AFRICA gains a public-company owner with a stated intention to fund its next phase.

The terms that matter next are operational rather than ceremonial. Investors need the definitive agreement, deferred-payment triggers, brand and platform arrangements, approval sequence, conversion progress and early combined cash flow. The acquisition should be judged on whether the target’s disclosed growth and cash generation translate into a stronger, more diversified GiG without distracting its core customer base.

GiG is underwriting an operating platform with a rare combination of disclosed growth, local management continuity and an initial cash requirement it can cover. The early scorecard is straightforward: close the transaction, preserve target momentum, publish the combined cash profile and show B2B customers a credible separation framework.

The acquisition thesis is delivered only if local operating strengths and GiG’s platform strategy reinforce each other after close.

Confirmation that the SPA is signed, together with the definitive closing conditions and legal entities in scope.

Payment dates, performance links, set-off rights and any security will define the cash arc beyond the initial €6.0m.

Named regulatory approvals and expected timing will establish whether the end-September close estimate remains viable.

Each loan conversion notice will set a new price point and make the long-term dilution visible.

NGR, EBITDA, cash conversion and country mix will show the contribution from 888AFRICA after close.

The dashboard separates funding and founder-continuity facts from deal mechanics that await the SPA and approval documents. The remaining open items are both answerable and important to the post-close operating plan.

Source hierarchy

Transaction disclosures, financing announcements, financial results and seller accounts are treated as primary evidence. The iGaming Expert interview is used only for attributed management context. Market and valuation estimates were not used.

Metric basis

Consideration, completed financing and GiG financial results are reported in EUR unless a source uses SEK or GBP. Target operating metrics use USD where stated in GiG’s presentation. NGR is the buyer’s stated target run-rate metric; it is not treated as revenue or EBITDA.

Editorial independence

Acquiry prepared this report from public sources and acted for neither party. It is market commentary and research, not personalised financial advice.

Corrections and updates

Material changes to signing, approvals, closing, funding, ownership or combined operating disclosure will be reflected when primary sources publish them.