MTG completes sale of ESL Gaming to Savvy
April 21, 2022
Modern Times Group (MTG) has successfully closed the transaction to divest ESL Gaming to Savvy Gaming Group. ESL Gaming is therefore no longer part of MTG and will be reported as ‘Discontinued operations’ in the group’s financial results for Q1 2022 and will be deconsolidated from Q2.
MTG says it will now continue its growth journey as an international mobile gaming group with a diversified portfolio of games across a range of genres.
The divestment is expected to generate net proceeds of $875 million for the group, and at least 40 per cent of the money will be returned to MTG’s shareholders through a combination of a share redemption and a share buyback programme.
MTG’s Group President and CEO, Maria Redin, commented: “We’re excited for ESL Gaming to take the next step on their journey as the transaction closes, as well as for the opportunities that MTG sees going forward as gaming group. I would like to thank everyone involved in this transaction, and in particular ESL’s leadership team. Ralf Reichert and Craig Levine have been the best partners that we could have imagined on this journey. I wish them and everyone at ESL the best of luck and immense success going forward.”
Ralf Reichert, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of ESL commented: “When we founded ESL over 20 years ago, our goal was to bring esports to fans all around the world and enable our players to become stars. Today esports enjoy worldwide recognition and together with MTG we have been in the driver seat of the industry’s development making ESL the global category leader. Now it is time to, together with FACEIT, deliver an end-to-end solution that supports game developers and publishers to build unprecedented sustainable competitive ecosystems and take esports to the next level”