Esports Company Modern Times Group Explores US IPO
Modern Times Group (MTG), an esports and entertainment company, with ESL and DreamHack in its portfolio, is conducting a strategic review which could result in a public listing in the US.
MTG is reportedly considering options for adding business value which include the potential of a joint venture partnership in its gaming business or refining a global focus in esports. The company’s strategic review, announced today, may result in a US initial public offering (IPO) that would see its shares listed on US stock markets.
The investment holding company, based in Sweden, parted from its media and television business Nent last year, according to SportsBusiness. It says the potential for value from its gaming business has grown since it acquired InnoGames and it has been approached with further opportunities.
President and CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann revealed in a statement:
“We have the opportunity to establish MTG as a global leader in the esport industry and we will accelerate value creation by further combining and extracting synergies in our ownership of the two strongest esport brands globally, aided by our solid financial position and commercial operational expertise.”
The strategic review will consider options for MTG’s gaming business to “create maximum shareholder value” and evaluate the potential for “MTG as a global pure play esport company.”
Meeting a growing demand for everything esports
MTG owns Turtle Entertainment, the world’s largest esports company and its brand ESL, as well as the production company DreamHack, which specializes in esports tournaments and gaming conventions. ESL operates 13 mega events around the globe which see thousands of attendees and is constantly expanding to new locations to meet esports growth and demand.
A joint venture strategy for MTG, Lindemann told Reuters, could see MTG partner with a company from North America or South Asia, both huge markets for esports. The US is the largest esports market and an IPO from MTG in America could help to solidify the company’s global esports presence with investors. MTG has also just acquired a state in China’s live-streaming platform Huya.
A new opportunity to speculate on esports success
The increasing number of stock exchange listings for esports companies is a sign that the nascent esports industry is maturing. These developments cement the operations and financial security of fast-growing esports firms and provide an avenue for investors, esports fans or not, to speculate on esports success.
In recent days New Wave eSports has publicly listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE). Its portfolio of investments includes Tiidal Gaming who own of the biggest earning esports teams, Lazurus.
