Thailand-based telemarketing company One to One Contacts (OTO Contacts) has signed an agreement to acquire Thailand’s current No. 1 VALORANT team, XERXIA Esports as part of a multi-million dollar deal.
THAILAND — The deal comes as part of a bigger story of InnoHub Company Limited, a subsidiary of OTO Contacts, that entered the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement and Shareholders Agreement at the beginning of last month to invest in Phygital Space Development Co., Ltd (PSD) by purchasing 49 percent of the registered capital for TH฿100,000,000 (~US$2,9 million as of June 6, 2022).
According to the Related Parties Transactions Disclosure document obtained by VALO2ASIA, it is worth noting that the ~US$2,9 million buyouts by OTO Contacts were intended to acquire a stake in Phygital rather than only XERXIA Esports. Details of the XERXIA deal with PSD were not disclosed.
Phygital Space Development Co., Ltd is primarily recognized as a licensing partner of Paris Saint-Germain F.C. to operate an Arena of Valor (RoV) team in Thailand. Aside from managing an esports team, it owns Hubber.gg, a gaming platform that was granted the right to host last year’s RoV Division 1, a semi-professional league for the Thai region with a total prize pool of TH฿1,000,000 (~ US$$29,592). In the grand scheme of things, XERXIA Esports will be managed under one big roof as PSG Esports RoV.
OTO Contacts’ acquisition of XERXIA Esports is presumed to be one of the largest esports organization acquisitions in Thailand, comparable to Singapore-based Ampverse’s purchase of Made in Thailand (MiTH) in September 2021.
Through the release, the organization has expressed its intention to expand its presence to other game titles, including PUBG and Free Fire, with the goal of housing five teams by the end of the year and seven by 2023.
XERXIA Esports first entered the Thai VALORANT scene by acquiring the former X10 CRIT roster. Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard and co. made their third international appearance at the US$675,000 VCT Masters Reykjavik 2 under their new banner, finishing 9-10th by beating eventual champions OpTic Gaming before losing the Group B decider to the same team.
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(Photo courtesy of กรุงเทพธุรกิจ)
“The company sees the potential of the XERXIA team with both capabilities and potential for further growth in the future, and VALORANT is a game that is quite famous for being played all over the world,” said Kanawut Wattanathirat, Chairman of Executive Committee and Chief Executive Officer of OTO Contacts Public Company Limited. “Our target is to see our e-sport teams ranked in the global top 20 with a combined market value of more than US$200 million [TH฿6.84 billion] by 2025.
“As a leading tech company, OTO is committed to propelling the esports industry forward in both Thailand and at the global level. We believe we can expand our revenue base in esports to reach the same level as international esports clubs, which have a market value of between US$200 million and US$500 million. Esports is a new S Curve industry that has strong growth potential and can generate sustainable returns on investment for shareholders in the long run.” he continued.
OTO Contacts, a subsidiary of Samart Corporation, is a listed publicly-traded company on The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and valued at a market capitalization of about TH฿7,056 million baht, based on the OTO.BK share price of TH฿12.60 (as of June 6, 2022).
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Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
