[단독] Implemented KT, asset clearance speed… E-sports club’KT Rollster’ is also selling

Selected as the organizer for the sale of Samjung KPMG

Business value of 60 to 70 billion is discussed

Now is the right time to sell the ransom price

“Considering not only selling, but also attracting investment”

‘KT Rollster’, an e-sports club operated by KT (030200), has been on sale. Following the sale of KT Powertel, a telecommunications business subsidiary at the beginning of this year, the company is speeding up the work of organizing non-core assets.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 25th, KT recently decided to sell KT Rollster and selected Samjung KPMG as its supervisor. The corporate value is estimated to be about 60 billion to 70 billion won.

The sale is expected to be acquired through a fund created by a new private equity fund (PEF) Kairos Investment. Kairos Investment recently made its name public by completing a series B investment of 100 billion won by Line Games in the domestic and international markets.

An official in the IB industry said, “In Korea, as the understanding of the e-sports industry is low, it seems that they have in mind an overseas LP (major investor) who can receive a generous amount of ransom money.” It is similar to the British Premier League, so it is popular overseas.” According to Riot Games, which operates the League of Legends, 67% of the viewers of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) held last year were overseas viewers, including English, Japanese, and French.

Founded in 1999, KT Rollster has won several championships by running teams such as StarCraft, League of Legends (Roll), FIFA, Count Strike, and Special Force. Currently, he runs a league of legends team with famous players such as Choi Hyun-jun and Son Woo-hyun, and is fiercely competing for the top ranks. In 2018, he won the LCK Summer Split, advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Championship, and also won the LCK Academy Series last year.

KT has been reorganizing its business structure by organizing non-core assets and investing in new industries such as media and finance after CEO Sang-mo Lee took office last year. At the beginning of this year, KT Powertel, a telecommunications business affiliate, was sold for 40.6 billion won. In October of last year, KTH and KT M House merged to launch a digital commerce company. In particular, it seems that it is the right time to sell KT Rollster as the ransom of game clubs has risen significantly due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

An industry insider familiar with the company said, “Internally, we have formed a task force (TF) for the sale of non-core businesses and are organizing the businesses that have been increased in the form of octopus.”

Regarding this, a KT official explained, “It is not a procedure that is only contemplated by the sale,” and “as e-Sports is an important business field, we are looking for various ways such as attracting investment.”

/ Reporter Minkyung Kim [email protected]