Enthusiast Gaming, the parent company of Luminosity Gaming, is set to acquire news and strategy guide platform Icy Veins for €7m (~£5.99m).
The amount is expected to be paid in cash and stock, plus an earnout has been agreed by Enthusiast Gaming and Vedatis SAS, Icy Veins’ owners, should certain milestones be achieved.
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Enthusiast Gaming has worked with Icy Veins since 2017, through monetising advertising traffic. According to the announcement, the esports organisation generated approximately $2.4m (£1.73m) in advertising revenue for the platform last year, with 75 per cent of that figure being paid to Icy Veins’ owners.
If the acquisition is successful, Enthusiast Gaming will retain 100 per cent of the advertising revenue, whilst also opening opportunities to monetise the platform through the organisation’s other avenues. This includes its subscription services, content licensing, YouTube channels, merchandise, and ecommerce.
Adrian Montgomery, CEO of Enthusiast Gaming, stated: “I would like to welcome the Icy Veins team to the Enthusiast Gaming family and look forward to unlocking the many identified growth opportunities which will drive revenue and margin growth.
“We continue to evaluate additional opportunities from within our platform and existing relationships, to aggressively grow our ownership of valuable video game fan communities and audiences.”
Icy Veins, which was founded in 2011 by Damien Thivolle and Vlad-Matei Mladin, is widely known as one of the largest independent Activision Blizzard fan communities. The platform provides strategy guides and news across franchises such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone and Overwatch.
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Enthusiast Gaming has revealed that, following a successful acquisition, Damien Thivolle and Vlad-Matei Mladin will continue to operate Icy Veins.
Mladin, the Co-founder and General Manager of Icy Veins, added: “We are proud to have grown Icy Veins into one of the largest Activision Blizzard fan communities and that our audience has come to know us for great news and guides to help them become better gamers.
“Enthusiast Gaming is the leader in video game and esports communities and we are excited to leverage its fan flywheel model to take Icy Veins to new heights.”
Esports Insider says: Over the last five years Enthusiast Gaming has adopted a ‘buy and build strategy’. As such, it’s no surprise to see them potentially acquire Icy Veins, particularly given the relationship between both entities and the revenue Enthusiast Gaming already gains from the platform.
ESI Digital Spring | 30-31st March
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