David Beckham’s New Esports Business Boost for Blue Star Capital

Blue Star Capital plc is pleased to announce that its investee company Guild eSports has today formally announced its global launch and association with David Beckham, an investor in Guild. Guild is developing a talent pipeline in the UK, based on the traditional academy model, with the intention that the most able esports players are coached and nurtured by industry leaders in order to attain the skillset required to compete professionally. Guild’s intention is for a roster of scouts to continually find and sign the best young talent.

Guild has established a management team of esports veterans with experience as professional players, coaches and esports media. Guild Executive Chairman, Carleton Curtis, is well-known in the industry and architect of the Overwatch League and Call Of Duty Leagues. Prior to joining Guild, he held senior esports roles at Activision Blizzard and Red Bull. His expertise complements David Beckham’s position in the world of mainstream sports to create a unique esports proposition.

Guild intends to develop into various esports disciplines over the course of the 2020/2021 season with its first team making its debut in autumn 2020 expecting to compete in the most popular titles including Rocket League, EA Sports FIFA and Fortnite. The Company’s ambition is to build a culture of excellence around its brand and digital presence.

The directors of Guild consider David Beckham’s move into esports to be a natural progression given his experience developing sports businesses, most recently through his co-ownership of Inter Miami CF in the MLS and his passion for guiding youth talent to achieve excellence. His involvement in the launch of Guild is a significant opportunity to introduce his level of professional sports acumen to the world of esports and further strengthen this evolving sport.

Guild further announces that London-based artist Fergus Purcell, creator of the iconic identity for skate wear label Palace, will design its brand and develop for it a lifestyle apparel line. Fergus has collaborated with a diverse roster of fashion designers and music artists from Marc Jacobs, Paul Smith and Alexander McQueen to 2manydjs.

Follow-on Investment in Guild

Further to the announcement of 4 May 2020, the Company advises that, pursuant to its anti-dilution rights attached to its initial investment in Guild, it is investing a further £480,000 in order to maintain its shareholding of 11.7 per cent. of Guild. The investment has been made at a price of 6p per share, which compares to the Company’s initial investment at 1p per share.

Tony Fabrizi, CEO of Blue Star said, “We are very pleased to announce today’s news from Guild regarding its global launch and the association with David Beckham. The team behind Guild is incredibly strong and gives us great confidence that the company has an exciting future.”