Astralis, one of the leading esports brand and the world’s number one Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is all set to become the first publicly listed esports company. The team has won millions of dollars in the form of tournament prizes.

Now operating as a media company, Astralis Group is a leading esports and media organization, which is operating three strong team brands; Astralis (FIFA 19/20), Origen (League of Legends), and Future FC (FIFA 19/20).

In January 2016, Astralis participated in their first esports event, which was DreamHack Leipzig 2016. The team came in the media’s projection when it topped their group after defeating Dignitas, another Danish-based professional esports organization.

These successes helped Astralis to find its niche in the esports market by winning the trust of different multinational companies.

In September, the Automobile manufacturing brand Audi decided to sponsor the Astralis group’s future FC FIFA team. Logitech also has announced two years deal with players to use their equipment and test future products.

IPO Details

The listing will take place in the second week of next month on 9th December. The stock exchange will be the (Nasdaq First North Growth Market Denmark) Nasdaq’s Copenhagen exchange.

According to Astralis official website, the offer price will be 8.95 DKK, with the minimum purchase of 450 shares (Equivalent to DKK 4,027.50). The public offering is set to a minimum of 13,966,480 and a maximum of 16,759,777 new shares. They will be keeping the ticker symbol of ‘ASTGRP’.

It has been expected that Astralis plans to raise 125 to 150 million kroner ($18-22 million).

Astralis Group Chief Executive Officer Nikolaj Nyholm expressed his views, “We believe that the foundation of some of the most valuable and iconic brands in 10 years time is being set today.”

Esports industry is rising

Esports is a form of sports competition using video games. Competitors from different leagues or teams play against each other in the games that are popular such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Madden NFL, etcetera.

According to Bloomberg, currently, the accumulated global market of esports is $1.1 billion, 2x from 2016.

Games like Counter-Strike, Quake, and StarCraft were once the primary hobbies. It became a pivotal point of marketing and sponsorship opportunities when Twitch and YouTube made gameholics stream their favorite players playing live. The viewership has thus increased more and more rapidly.

According to NewZoo global esports market report, in 2019, the global esports market will generate revenues of $1.1 billion and expected to generate $1.8 to $2 billion in 2022. The global esports audience is expected to reach 453.8 million this year.

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