Guild Esports, the London-based esports organisation backed by David Beckham, has announced plans to float.
Investors will be able to buy ordinary shares via the Standard Listing segment of the London Stock Exchange this autumn.
Guild has the ambition to become ‘one of the world’s top ten esports franchises within three years’.
It’s establishing esports teams to compete in major tournaments and hopes to implement a player training and scouting infrastructure modelled on the talent academies of Premier League football teams.
Guild Esports was announced back in June, and since then has signed a top Rocket League team featuring British players like Scrub Killa and coach Gregan, as well as FIFA player NRaseck.
It also plans to participate in Fortnite and CSGO.
“Guild will be the first esports franchise to join the London stock market, which will provide us with the caché, credibility and capital to fulfil our ambition to become one of the world’s top ten esports franchises within three years.”
Carleton Curtis, Guild Esports
Guild says it will provide shareholders ‘with a unique opportunity to own a franchise that intends to create revenue through tournament winnings, digital marketing opportunities, sponsorship, membership, merchandise and promotional tours/events’.
Proceeds from shares will be used to recruit new players, invest in the Guild brand and expand the Company’s activities.
Carleton Curtis, executive chairman of Guild Esports, said: “The growing global popularity of esports has enabled several existing franchises to monetise their activities through sponsorship, retail, merchandising, apparel & product licensing, new media and mobile, broadcasting and tournaments.
“Guild will be the first esports franchise to join the London stock market, which will provide us with the caché, credibility and capital to fulfil our ambition to become one of the world’s top ten esports franchises within three years.”
Zeus Capital and Mirabaud Securities are acting as joint brokers and book runners for the company.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
