The board of directors of Evolution recommended not to pay dividends to shareholders for the 2025 financial year

The board of directors of Evolution recommended not to pay dividends to shareholders for the 2025 financial year

This is the first time since the start of dividend payments (since 2017) and contradicts the company’s current capital distribution policy, which states that at least 50% of net profit should be distributed to shareholders annually.

Since the company’s management only announced the fact and provided no explanations, rumors immediately started circulating.

One possible reason mentioned is the interests of the company’s largest shareholder, Kenneth Dart, who owns 23.4% of the business through his entities. The Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri suggested that Dart might prefer to conduct a share buyback instead of paying dividends.

This way, he can «kill two birds with one stone»: save on taxes and increase his stake in the capital. If his stake approaches 30%, Swedish law would require him to make a mandatory takeover bid to other shareholders, giving him the opportunity to strengthen control or even potentially delist the company.

Meanwhile, Swedish investor and analyst Peter Hedlund points out that it was recently proposed to appoint Samantha Sachs Gallagher to the board of directors, who is the executive vice president of VICI Properties (an American company with a market capitalization of around $30bn, owning properties of casinos such as Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, and The Venetian in Las Vegas).

And, according to him, one cannot rule out the scenario where VICI or a consortium of its partners might consider acquiring Evolution.

The third version is that Evolution is facing serious legal disputes in several jurisdictions, and it is quite possible that money will be needed this year, leaving no room for dividends.

Regardless, all opinions converge on one point: «something is happening».