Beckham's Guild Esports jumps in London trading debut

[LONDON] Guild Esports, which counts retired soccer star David Beckham among its investors, gains as much as 13 per cent in its London debut after raising £20 million pounds (S$35.2 million), riding the surging popularity of online gaming tournaments.

The stock was trading at nine pence at 8.15am in London, up from the issue price of eight pence. The initial public offering (IPO) values Guild at £41.2 million, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The fan base for e-sports is growing at a blistering pace, with video-game competitions already attracting a bigger audience than some physical sports championships, like Wimbledon and the Tour de France, the company said. While coronavirus-induced social-distancing measures have hit live attendance of sports events, online gaming has had no such restrictions to contend with.

New businesses have emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic that capitalise on the changes in habits brought about by the lockdown, says Anthony Brockbank, corporate partner at Fieldfisher LLP a legal adviser on the IPO, in emailed comments. He expects more transactions in the e-sport space as interest in at-home leisure activities grows.

Guild, which will become the first e-sports franchise to join the London Stock Exchange, plans to set up and field teams of players to compete in four online games: Fortnite, CS:Go, Rocket League and FIFA. Proceeds from the share placing will be used to recruit gamers, invest in its brand and expand.

The company, established in September 2019, is also counting on Mr Beckham to use his global influence and following to support its brand and business. Shareholders including Blue Star Capital, which holds a 5.95 per cent stake, have entered into a 12-month lock-in period.

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Late last year, Counter-Strike world champions Astralis Group became the first pure-play e-sports team to float, raising 150 million kroner (S$32.2 million) in Copenhagen. The global e-sports market was estimated to be worth US$1.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to expand to nearly US$2 billion by 2022. That being said, Astralis's stock has fallen by about half since listing in December.

The wider gaming sector is heating up this year, with at least four other companies looking to go public. Mobile casino app maker Huuuge and computer game studio People Can Fly Group have filed prospectuses with the Polish regulator to sell shares this year, while Czech game maker Bohemia Interactive is weighing an IPO.

Activity in the sector has also extended to more old-fashioned games. A company, founded by four-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, which enables users to learn and play the board game, has applied to list on the Merkur Market in Oslo.

Zeus Capital and Mirabaud Securities are arranging Guild's offering.

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