William Hill and 888 owner Evoke is closing around 270 betting shops to offset a hit from higher taxes as talks grow of a £225million takeover of the group.
The debt-laden firm has earmarked sites for closure after losses more than doubled to £549.1million last year – largely due to a gambling duty hike in November.
The closures are expected to lead to hundreds of job losses but Evoke has not confirmed how many.
Last week the firm said it was in talks over a potential £225million takeover by Greek gambling firm Bally’s Intralot.
Evoke said in January it would have to offset an expected increase in duty costs of up to £135million a year.
Remote gaming duty rose from 21 per cent to 40 per cent from April.
Losing streak: William Hill and 888 owner Evoke has earmarked sites for closure after losses more than doubled to £549.1m last year – largely due to a gambling duty hike in November
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