Key Points
- GiG Software is acquiring 80% of 888Africa for €16.4m through a directed share issue and convertible loans totalling €8.5m, marking its first B2C move since the 2023 spinoff from Gentoo Media.
- Full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance has dropped sharply to €5-7m, less than half the €10-13m range GiG had previously guided, with 888Africa’s Q4 contribution now the single biggest variable in hitting even this lowered figure.
- GiG CEO Richard Carter confirmed plans to build a separate B2B Africa operation within the next 12 months, indicating the continent is a multi-year strategic bet, not a single defensive move.
Three years of life as a pure B2B platform business came to an end on 26 August 2026, when GiG Software plc announced it had agreed terms to acquire 80% of 888Africa. The deal is worth up to €16.4 million. It is also, quietly, an admission that selling technology to operators has not been enough.
What makes the announcement worth watching closely is not just the price tag. It is the moment GiG chose to make this move — a quarter where revenue fell 5%, operating losses nearly doubled, and a single client insolvency punched a €3 million hole in the books. When a company acquires under those conditions, it is worth asking whether this is a strategic opportunity or a financial lifeline dressed as one.
GiG’s Fundraising Plan, Explained
GiG Software confirmed in its official announcement that it will raise €8.5 million through a directed share issue combined with convertible loan agreements, at an expected equity-to-loan split of 70/30. The proceeds will fund the initial payment of approximately €6 million, with the remainder earmarked for general corporate purposes.
The decision not to conduct a rights issue means that there will be no opportunity for all shareholders to take part in the share issuance. Shares will now be issued to chosen investors in an expedited manner, which will lead to reduced transaction costs and shorten the process duration. It seems logical, given the fact that at 30 June 2026, the company had only €3.5 million in cash reserves, compared to €4.3 million at the same time last year.
The total €16.4 million deal splits into an upfront payment of approximately €6 million and a deferred consideration of approximately €10.4 million, providing some breathing room on the larger portion of the cost.
What 888Africa Actually Is?
888Africa was established in March 2022 through a collaboration between 888 Holdings, which is currently a subsidiary of Evoke plc, and an experienced group of iGaming experts. The company was designed to license out the 888 brand name and offer online gambling services within the African regulated markets. In August 2023, the company consolidated its position further through the acquisition of BetLion, a regulated operator within Kenya and Zambia since 2019, with more than three million customers.
Then, in 2025, Evoke retreated from 10 African markets as part of a broader business restructuring, divesting its African operations and triggering a strategic review. GiG is, in effect, buying what survived that contraction. According to Next.io’s reporting, 888Africa’s strongest performance to date has been concentrated in Mozambique — not the most obvious market, which suggests the business found and held an early position that others overlooked.
The remaining 20% of 888Africa shares stay with the founding management team, who continue running the business day-to-day. That structure matters. It avoids the cultural disruption of a complete buyout and keeps the people who built the brand accountable for what comes next.
The Africa Opportunity and the Numbers Behind It
CEO Richard Carter made the growth case directly to investors during GiG’s earnings call. He pointed to Africa’s young population and a mobile connectivity rate of only 27%, compared to 95% or more in the UK or North America, as evidence of the scale still available. The African iGaming market is projected to rise from $11.6 billion today to $22 billion by 2030, a figure Carter cited directly, alongside mobile money adoption running above 70% across the continent.
“Regulatory-wise, the landscape is fast maturing, with markets shifting from an informal play towards long-term, compliant licence frameworks,” Carter said, “which we believe will help skew the market success further towards compliant operators such as 888 Africa.”
Following completion, GiG expects the combined group to generate revenue of €44-48 million and adjusted EBITDA of €5-7 million for full-year 2026, assuming a full Q4 contribution from 888Africa. That assumption is load-bearing. The deal still requires formal approval and signature of the Share Purchase Agreement, with Carter confirming completion is targeted by the end of September 2026.
What does not appear in the headline projections is the fact that GiG’s previously issued full-year EBITDA guidance stood at €10-13 million. The revised range of €5-7 million — even with 888Africa included — is less than half that figure. Nobody in the results announcement emphasised that downgrade.
The Quarter That Made This Urgent
GiG’s Q2 2026 results, published the same day as the acquisition announcement, show a business under real pressure. Revenue came in at €8.8 million, down from €9.3 million in Q2 2025, a 5% decline the company attributed primarily to the insolvency of Richmond Atlantic, which had a significant impact on results alongside lower setup fees. A €3 million bad debt provision tied to that collapse pushed the operating loss to €6.9 million, compared to €3.7 million in the same quarter of 2025.
On the positive side, underlying recurring revenue grew 14% year-on-year and sportsbook revenue rose 6%. Those numbers point to real momentum in the core business, but they are being buried under client failures and legacy cost drag. Carter acknowledged the position plainly, noting the company had “reacted decisively to mitigate this impact by initiating a further €6 million of annualised savings through the closure of loss-making partners and markets.” Combined with a €4.5 million cost programme announced in January, GiG is entering H2 2026 leaner than at any point since its formation as a standalone entity.
Carter also flagged that the planned closure of the Alira Spain platform during 2027 will deliver further annualised savings and an opportunity to consolidate GiG’s technology stack.
What Happens to the 20% Evoke Retains?
One detail that competitor coverage has largely passed over is the ownership situation at Evoke itself. GiG is buying from Virtual Emerging Entertainment Limited, an Evoke plc subsidiary. Evoke retains 20% of 888Africa after the deal closes. Evoke, however, is itself subject to an acquisition process, meaning the 20% minority stake will eventually sit under a new corporate parent once Evoke’s own transaction completes. GiG is buying from a seller in transition, which adds a layer of uncertainty to the ongoing governance of 888Africa that is not reflected in the headline deal terms.
Expert Analysis
Here is what most of the coverage on this deal misses: the share price fell roughly 20% on the day GiG announced both the acquisition and its Q2 results. That reaction tells you something the press release does not. Investors looked at a cash-strapped B2B platform company buying a B2C African operator — funded partly through dilutive share issuance — in the same quarter it posted a near-€7 million operating loss, and they were not convinced.
We think the scepticism is understandable but possibly premature. Africa’s iGaming market is genuinely underpenetrated, and 888Africa is described in GiG’s own official statement as “cash-generative and profitable,” which is more than can be said for GiG’s core business at this point in 2026. The structure of the deal, with deferred consideration and founding management retained at 20%, limits near-term cash drain and preserves operational continuity.
The real risk is not the Africa strategy. It is the execution bandwidth. Carter has simultaneously confirmed plans to launch a B2B Africa operation within 12 months, absorb a B2C business into a B2B company’s structure, and hold costs flat. That is three significant operational demands running in parallel, with a cash cushion that left the quarter at €3.5 million. The African market may well deliver the growth GiG is projecting. Whether GiG’s current balance sheet gives it enough runway to wait for that growth is the question investors were actually pricing on 26 August.
Explore more:
Share
8 views
