Shares in William Hill owner Evoke PLC (LSE:EVOK) bounced 8% to 23.83p after the bookmaker confirmed that it is putting all or part of the company up for sale.
A strategic review has been launched, the company said in a short statement, including "a range of potential alternatives to maximise shareholder value, including, but not limited to a potential sale of the group, or some of the company's assets and/or business units".
Investment banks Morgan Stanley and Rothschild have been hired to manage a potential sale.
Evoke, which was known as 888 Holdings, said there was no certainty that a deal would materialise.
Shares in Evoke had plunged 70% since Rachel Reeves' plans to hike taxes on the gambling sector were first reported in August.
Under changes announced in the autumn Budget, online gaming duty will rise to 40% from April, and a new 25% remote betting duty will apply to online sports betting, excluding horse-racing, from April 2027.
Following the Budget, Evoke predicted an annualised increase in duty costs of £125-135 million, with £80 million of that in 2026.
The bookmaker said it would withdraw its medium-term financial targets and begin immediate execution of mitigation plans, including reduced UK investment and likely job cuts.
But the Budget is not the sole source of the group's troubles which seem to have worsened since it purchased William Hill for £2.2 billion in 2022, issuing more than £1 billion in debt and borrowing a further £900 million.
It dropped out of the FTSE 250 in 2023 as 888 Holdings and was reported to have rejected a £700 million swoop by gambling tech provider Playtech that year.
That bid was priced at 156p a share.
The appointment of gambling industry veteran Per Widerström as chief executive that year has slowed but seemingly not stopped the rot, with a profit warning issued last year, followed by the sale of its US consumer wing.