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Esports Entertainment Group signs around $43 million deal to acquire ggCircuit LLC and Helix eSports LLC

Published: 08:20 26 Oct 2020 EDT

Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. -
Guidance for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, has been raised from $25 million to $42 million, Esports Entertainment Group said

Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMBL), the online esports tournament and gaming company, has signed a deal valued at approximately $43 million to acquire ggCircuit LLC and Helix eSports LLC.

"With the acquisition of Helix and ggCircuit, we have created the most diversified, US-listed esports entertainment asset in the entire ecosystem,” Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group said in a statement.

“These acquisitions significantly strengthen our Three Pillar Strategy, adding state-of-the-art esports entertainment centers, an esports-focused vertical enterprise software business, a best-in-class esports analytics platform, and a player-vs-player skill-based wagering platform to our diversified asset base. Together with what we’ve already built and further near-term acquisition opportunities, Esports Entertainment Group is well on its way to becoming a global industry leader," he added.

READ: Esports Entertainment named the official esports tournament provider of LA Kings hockey and LA Galaxy soccer

ggCircuit is a B2B software company that provides cloud-based management for LAN centers, a tournament platform, and integrated wallet/point-of-sale solutions for enterprise customers. ggCircuit has over 1,000 connected locations and has worked with enterprises such as GameStop, Dell, Best Buy and Lenovo as well as universities such as Ohio State, Syracuse and North Carolina.

The group's ggLeap product has over 60 million hours of usage by over two million unique gamers on tens of thousands of public gaming screens inside centers worldwide.

Zack Johnson, founder of ggCircuit, commented: “We are excited to join forces with Esports Entertainment Group! With our combined state-of-the-art platform and resources, I am confident that we will rapidly scale growth in the quarters ahead.”

“Esports are already a billion-dollar opportunity and expanding at a CAGR of 24%,” added Murphy Vandervelde, founder of Helix. “With growing mass-market appeal and a wealth of untapped opportunities, I am eager for Helix to become part of Esports Entertainment Group, where we can capitalize on the significant macro trends that will help catapult us to global leadership in this dynamic industry.”

Helix eSports owns five esports centers, including two of the five largest centers in the US, where they deliver world-class customer service, esports programming and gaming infrastructure. Helix offers a variety of experiences including casual play, competitive tournaments, STEM programming, high school leagues, large groups and esports bootcamps all with the goal of leveling the playing field in esports and providing equitable access to technology. Their centers have become the destination for social and competitive gamers alike with monthly tournaments and unique experiences.

Helix also owns Genji Analytics, an esports-proven, publisher-trusted analytics provider. Using sophisticated computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning tools, Genji delivers cutting-edge broadcast optimization and talent scouting analytics.

Genji works with leading esports publishers and sports leagues, such as FIFA and the NBA 2K League, to power activities like combines, drafts and data-driven business decisions. It has also launched products into Helix eSports Centers that create customized tournament experiences, leveraging both idle computing capacity and unique proprietary data sources. Revenue streams include platform sales to publishers and leagues with plans to expand to all competitive players looking to enhance their gameplay through analysis, fair competition, and roster optimization.

“Some of the best publishers and leagues already rely on Genji as the trusted analytics provider,” commented William Collis, founder of Genji. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to work together with the Esports Entertainment Group team to build on our extensive successes as we seek to become the dominant player in the global market.”

The acquisition also includes LANduel, Helix’s proprietary player-vs-player wagering platform, built in Unity, that allows for skill-based wagering on third-party video games. LANduel’s consumer-facing application enforces strict four-factor authentication to ensure fair play and ID verification. LANduel also holds close relationships with several major game publishers to ensure events and wagering follow community guidelines. LANduel is currently working alongside the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement on a pilot program.  

Once the model is proven at the Helix eSports locations, LANduel can easily be scaled to other centers throughout the US across the ggCircuit network, and eventually into the homes of gamers through ggCircuit’s proprietary at-home product suite.

Esports Entertainment said it plans to provide an update to its fiscal year 2021 guidance currently of $13 million after closing this transaction. Guidance for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, has been raised from $25 million to $42 million.

A webinar is scheduled Monday, October 26, 2020, at 4.15pm ET. Investors can register for the webinar at:https://www.redchip.com/corporate/webinar_register/77

Esports Entertainment offers fantasy and pools on various esports events in a licensed, regulated and secure platform at vie.gg. In addition, Esports Entertainment intends to offer users from around the world the ability to participate in multiplayer mobile and PC video game tournaments for cash prizes.

The company is led by a team of industry professionals and technical experts from the online gambling and the video game industries, and esports. It holds a license to conduct online gambling and 18+ gaming on a global basis in the UK, Ireland, Malta and Curacao and maintains offices in New Jersey, the UK and Malta.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com

 

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