MTG sells ESL Gaming to Savvy Gaming Group for $1.05 billion

Modern Times MTG AB

24/01/2022 22:30

STOCKHOLM, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Swedish e-sports and gaming
firm MTG  MTGb.ST  has agreed to sell ESL Gaming to Saudi-backed
Savvy Gaming Group at an enterprise value of $1.05 billion, it
said on Monday.
    MTG, which owns 91.46% of ESL Gaming, corresponding to $960
million, said it was expecting net proceeds of around $875
million from the deal, including transaction-related costs.
    It added that it would return at least 40% of the proceeds
to shareholders, while using the rest to strengthen its position
in the global gaming market, and continue its "buy and build
strategy."
    "Following the transaction, MTG will focus fully on
accelerating growth in its pure-play gaming business," MTG,
which has a market cap of around 9.76 billion crowns ($1.05
billion), said in a statement. 
    MTG, which bought ESL and DreamHack in 2015 and merged them
under the name ESL Gaming, has acquired several gaming companies
in the past year, including Hutch Games and Ninja Kiwi.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LM2AS
    It added that Savvy Group, which is backed by the Saudi
Arabian government's Public Investment Fund, was also buying
tech platform FACEIT to merge the two companies into a global
gaming platform.
 ($1 = 9.2615 Swedish crowns)

 (Reporting by Helena Soderpalm in Stockholm
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
 ((helena.soderpalm@thomsonreuters.com; +46 8 700 10 15; Reuters
Messaging: helena.soderpalm.reuters.com@reuters.net))