Guild Esports Sold to US-based investment Firm DCB Sports in a cut price £100,000 move.
Launched in 2019 with David Beckham as a big name investor in the project, Guild Esports went on to feature in several major esports titles. Now, DCB Sports has acquired 100% of the company alongside £2m in liabilities that the esports org owes.
However, Guild Esports isn’t going away with DCB Sports running it through a new Guilds Esports and Gaming LTD. In a release, the company stated that:
“and it will be responsible for providing the necessary future working capital to allow the business to operate from a stable financial platform, and further develop its existing partnerships with studios and creatives domestically and abroad”
A new Start
Guild’s current CEO Jasmine Skee has also stepped down from the role in the wake of the news. DCB Sports has placed Derek Lew and Brian Stockbridge as non-executive directors of the company.
“Despite continued efforts, Guild has exhausted all alternative fundraising and financing opportunities which would allow the company’s continued operation in its current form. The board of directors believe [the acquisition] is the best course of action available for the company given its current financial position and the anticipated future capital needs of the business. The board sincerely thanks Ms Skee for her significant contributions and strategic leadership of the company under difficult conditions, and in particular, her efforts in completing the transaction”
Crucially for staff at Guild Esports, “The transaction also provides certainty to the company’s staff, customers, and suppliers which have been integral to the development of the Guild brand and business.” stated the companies new owners.
Guild Esports was also on the London Stock Exchange and it’s fair to say the trajectory of that was a telling sign. Starting at a respectable £8 a share, the stock mostly fell away, bar a slight recovery early in 2021 to its original share price. However, since then it’s been downhill, with a huge snowball starting in September 2021 when the price was £6, resulting in it falling to £1.25 by May of 2022. As of today, the share price is just £0.03. Little comfort will be given, even with today’s news with the stock actually down 40% alone.