Astralis To Become First Esports Organisation To Go Public

Denmark’s Astralis Group, who owns a top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports franchise, has confirmed it will go public later this month.

The move will make the organisation the first esports group to become a public trading company, as they are currently preparing an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq’s Copenhagen exchange from December 9.

Astralis founder and chief executive, Nikolaj Nyholm, said the group plans to raise between 125-150 million kroner (AUD $27-32 million), with shares prices at 8.95 kroner (AUD $1.95), after securing funding from a range of Asian and European investors.

“We believe that the foundation of some of the most valuable and iconic brands in ten years’ time is being set today,” Nyholm said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Since its launch in the esports scene in 2016, Astralis has won millions of dollars in tournament prizes and also has gained commercial endorsements with brands such as Audi, Logitech and NewZoo.

Having made its name on the professional gaming circuit with its success in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the group has since expanded to have teams competing in League of Legends and EA’s FIFA series.

Although there are currently publicly traded esports companies, none focus solely on building competitive esports teams, such as Astralis, who, in the announcement, said their performance model will include focusing on the physical, mental and technical aspects of player’s performance to improve their skills.

This performance model has clearly proved successful since Astralis initially planned to go public, as their win-loss ratio in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has increased from approximately 1.5 to 7 in the last year and a half.