Saudi Arabia Investment Fund Acquires E-Sports Companies ESL and FACEIT
A Saudi Arabian Investment group buys two of the largest e-sports organizations for $1 billion in a move to help diversify the country’s appeal.
Last week saw the biggest names in e-sports being swallowed up by larger companies. Last week, Major League Gaming, under the banner Activision-Blizzard, was arrested Microsoft’s major acquisition. This week, two solid industries in ESL and FACE IT was acquired by Savvy Gaming Group, a company established and funded by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
The purchase of the two companies is said to be about $1.5 billion and combines the two companies into one entity under their new ownership. ESL is one of the oldest e-sports companies founded in Germany in 2000. The company organizes some of the biggest e-sports events such as IEM Katowice and DreamHack and is advertised as a company. The world’s largest e-sports. FACEIT, sold for $500 million, is an e-sports tournament organization and management platform for Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, DOTA 2, and other popular e-sports.
Under the Savvy Gaming Group, the two companies will merge under the new name ESL Faceit Group. The two companies’ current CEOs Craig Levine (ESL) and Niccolo Maisto (FACEIT) will assume the role of co-CEO once the acquisition is completed in 2022. The two companies will remain in operation. primarily as it is but will work together to help promote and potentially expand the eSports sceneries they operate. Savvy Gaming Group’s move to acquire these two e-sports units is seen as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to further diversify the country’s appeal in different markets and rely less on exports. Petroleum exports are the sole economic engine.
Many are seeing the purchase as a controversial money-making move under the guise of “sports cleaning”, a practice throw a large amount of money at extreme sports activities to divert attention from a country’s human rights issues. Savvy Gaming Group is a company under the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and operates under the management of the Government of Saudi Arabia. Other purchases made by the Public Investment Fund include the purchase of English Premier League team Newcastle United in 2021.
Although there was a slight downturn due to pandemic and lack of live events, esports remains an ever-expanding form of entertainment and will still attract interest from outside organizations looking to invest and monetize the sector. While it remains to be seen exactly how esports startups will operate, they assume that structurally nothing will change and they will focus on building the professional community and Path. to Pro further as the industry and the world recover.
The source: ESL FACEIT, IGN
Continue reading
About the author
https://gamerant.com/saudi-arabia-public-investment-fund-acquires-esl-faceit-esports-companies/ Saudi Arabia Investment Fund Acquires E-Sports Companies ESL and FACEIT