Esports holding company OverActive Media‘s deal to acquire Spanish esports brands KOI and Movistar Riders have entered definitive agreements, according to an update issued by the company.
In addition, Movistar Riders partner Telefónica has signed a multi-year partnership extension with the Spanish organisation. If the brand’s acquisition goes through, the telecommunications company will become an OverActive Media shareholder. Currently, Telefónica FILIALES is a minority stakeholder of Movistar Riders, owning 15%.
OverActive Media entered into a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) to acquire KOI and Movistar Riders earlier this year, strengthening the company’s foothold in the Spanish market alongside its other brand MAD Lions. As a part of the acquisition, OverActive’s LEC team was renamed to MAD Lions KOI.
The most recent development now highlights that OverActive has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement with KOI and a definitive share purchase agreement with Movistar Riders.
According to the esports holding company, Movistar Riders’ extended partnership with Spanish Telefónica will be the largest financial partnership in OverActive Media’s history. The extended partnership will see Telefónica continue to have naming rights for the Movistar Riders team, as well as branding on jerseys and content collaborations.
Movistar Riders was recently rebranded to Movistar KOI and continues to field teams in CS, League of Legends and EA FC, where the company is a partner of the Spanish football team Atletico Madrid.
If the purchase agreement is finalised, KOI and Movistar Riders senior staff will join OverActive Media’s staff, with Movistar Riders’ Founder Fernado Piquer joining the company as its Chief Strategy Officer and CEO Carlos Garcia-Acevedo becoming Chief Commercial Officer for the EMEA region. In addition, co-founder of KOI Gerard Piqué will join the OverActive board of directors, along with Movistar Riders co-founder Gabriel Saenz de Buruaga.
The potential acquisition of two prominent Spanish brands will leave OverActive Media in a strong position in the region and across Spanish-speaking markets. Interestingly, British esports organisation EXCEL ESPORTS made a similar move by merging with Giants Gaming late in 2023, also to solidify its foothold in this high-potential market.
The recent news, however, does not mean that OverActive Media has finalised its purchase of the two esports brands because there are still several conditions that need to be fulfilled.
OverActive Media shared in a statement: “Each Acquisition remains subject to several conditions, including the concurrent completion of the other Acquisition, the receipt of all necessary TSXV, board and third-party approvals (including, in the case of the KOI Acquisition, the approval of Riot Games), OverActive entering into new contracts with the KOI esports team players and coaches and other customary conditions that are set out in the definitive purchase agreement.”
