Group ONE Closes US$150 Million Equity Financing Round
Group ONE Holdings (“ONE” or the “Company”), Asia’s largest global sports media platform and parent company of ONE Championship and ONE Esports, today 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.
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.”
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.
About Group ONE Holdings
Group ONE Holdings (ONE) is Asia’s largest global sports media platform.
Through its marquee sports properties – ONE Championship and ONE Esports – and its passionate millennial and Generation Z community, ONE is a celebration of Asia’s greatest cultural phenomena, martial arts and gaming, and the deep-rooted values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline, and compassion.
According to Nielsen, ONE Championship ranks among the world’s top 10 biggest sports media properties for viewership and engagement. ONE Championship broadcasts across 150+ territories with some of the largest networks and digital broadcasters, including Star Sports, Beijing TV, iQIYI, One Sports, Abema, IB, Turner Sports, SCTV, Vidio, Laliga TV, Startimes, Thairath TV, RTM, VieOn, Skynet, Mediacorp, Spark Sport, Match TV, Dubai Sports, RedeTV and more.
About Guggenheim Investments
Guggenheim Investments is the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners with more than $259 billion* in total assets across fixed income, equity, and alternative strategies. We focus on the return and risk needs of insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors.
*As of 09/30/2021. The assets include leverage of $17.9 billion. Guggenheim Investments represents the following affiliated investment management businesses of Guggenheim Partners, LLC: Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, Security Investors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Corporate Funding, LLC, Guggenheim Partners Europe Limited, Guggenheim Partners Fund Management (Europe) Limited, Guggenheim Partners Japan Limited, GS GAMMA Advisors, LLC, and Guggenheim Partners India Management.
About Qatar Investment Authority
Qatar Investment Authority (“QIA”) is the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar. QIA was founded in 2005 to invest and manage the state reserve funds. QIA is among the largest and most active sovereign wealth funds globally. QIA invests across a wide range of asset classes and regions as well as in partnership with leading institutions around the world to build a global and diversified investment portfolio with a long-term perspective that can deliver sustainable returns and contribute to the prosperity of the State of Qatar.
