Group ONE Holdings, Asia’s largest global sports media platform and parent company of ONE Championship and ONE Esports, announced it has closed a US$150 million equity financing round led by two new global investors, Guggenheim Investments (“Guggenheim”), the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners, and Qatar Investment Authority (“QIA”) – who join other blue-chip institutional investors in the Company.
The new investment will support ONE’s global growth strategy, which includes diversifying its content offerings to continue to unleash the potential of ONE’s live sports and general entertainment businesses, and further expand outside Asia to reach a broader audience and increase viewership globally.
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Hua Fung Teh, Group President of ONE, said “Our successful fundraising is a testament to the power and reach of our once-in-a-generation global sports platform. We are thrilled to be partnering with two of the world’s most prominent and savvy investors, Guggenheim Investments and Qatar Investment Authority, as we continue to accelerate our strategy to bring our engaging content to more people around the world. We are deeply proud of ONE’s achievements in 2021, including delivering record revenues, and we look forward to achieving more milestones in the new year.”
Scott Minerd, Chairman of Guggenheim Investments and Global Chief Investment Officer of Guggenheim Partners, said “ONE has quickly established itself as one of the most valuable global sports platforms, and we have been impressed with what the Company’s forward-thinking management team continues to deliver. ONE’s powerful platform and strong fan base are unique advantages as it accelerates its global expansion strategy – and we are excited to help the Company capture the incredible opportunities that lie ahead.”
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ONE’s latest equity financing round reflects the strong momentum the Company has generated as it positions itself for significant opportunities in 2022. This includes ONE’s new partnership with Netflix where the first season of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” will premiere in over 150 countries in the first quarter of 2022, and the Company’s highly successful “ONE: Empower” in September, which was the first all-female mixed martial arts event ever held by a major global martial arts organization. Also this year, ONE Esports hosted the iconic “ONE Esports Dota 2 Singapore Major”, which attracted 274 million viewers, making it the third most watched event for a Dota 2 Major ever.
In June of this year, Nielsen ranked ONE Championship as one of the top 10 sports properties in the world in terms of viewership and engagement, alongside other popular and established global properties such as the NBA and NFL. The Nielsen report found that ONE Championship had the highest follower growth globally, ranked fourth in total video views across major digital channels (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube), was in the top three in cumulative reach, and top 10 by broadcast hours during the pandemic in 2020.
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