UK-based organisation Guild Esports has raised £20 million ahead of its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, according to a release.
The organisation is most notable for the minority interest held by David Beckham.
RELATED: Guild Esports looks to list on London Stock Exchange
Guild Esports announced its intentions to launch an IPO on the LSE on September 9th and was met by criticism and scepticism by the esports community. Nonetheless, the organisation is continuing with its plans and, according to a release, it set to debut on the exchange on October 2nd.
The organisation said that its oversubscribed offering of 250 million shares was priced at £0.08. Following the IPO, Beckham will maintain a 4.78 percent stake -which will make him the fourth-largest shareholder in the company. Blue Star Capital and Toro Consulting are also investors.
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RELATED: Guild Esports taps MediaCom Sports and Entertainment for partnerships strategy
Guild Esports competes in Psyonix’s Rocket League and EA SPORTS’ FIFA, though it’s looking to expand into Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Epic Games’ Fortnite.
At the time of announcing the IPO, Carleton Curtis, Executive Chairman of Guild Esports, spoke on the plans: “The growing global popularity of esports has enabled several existing franchises to monetise their activities through sponsorship, retail, merchandising, apparel & product licensing, new media & mobile, broadcasting and tournaments.
“Guild will be the first esports franchise to join the London stock market, which will provide us with the caché, credibility and capital to fulfil our ambition to become one of the world’s top ten esports franchises within three years.”
Esports Insider says: This demonstrates a couple of things: the power of the Beckham brand and the hype surrounding esports, for better or for worse. If all of the rogue information that’s plastered around about the industry is believed then we can definitely see a world in which this IPO is a huge success for Guild – even though it has next-to-no assets at this point.