Singapore-based sports media platform Group ONE, the parent company of ONE Championship and ONE Esports, has closed a $150 million equity financing round led by two new global investors, Guggenheim Investments and Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), according to a statement.
The company has received about $50 million in equity funding from Al-Rayyan Holding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of QIA, per filings with the Singapore Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.
Earlier this month, DealStreetAsia reported that ONE Championship has issued new shares worth S$238.9 million ($174 million), following which the company’s valuation has reached S$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion).
About S$102.3 million, or 42.8% of this capital, comprises previously-issued redeemable convertible loan notes that were converted into preference shares upon a successful round of qualified financing. According to ONE’s fiscal year 2020 report, this set of convertibles would be fully converted into preference shares if ONE managed to raise at least $75 million.
The company is also proposing a business combination with Gores Holdings VII, a $480 million blank cheque vehicle listed on the Nasdaq.
ONE said on Thursday it will use the latest investment to diversify its content offerings, and further expand outside Asia.
The company has sealed a 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.
Its new backer, Guggenheim Investments, is the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners. The investor had more than $259 billion in total assets across fixed income, equity, and alternative strategies as of September 30, 2021.
Meanwhile, QIA has been active in Asia through its investments in companies such as Indian edtech unicorn Byju and Adani Mumbai Electricity. The sovereign fund has recently established a wholly-owned advisory subsidiary in Singapore to source investment opportunities in Asia.
Vietnam-based conglomerate was recently reported to be in talks with investors including QIA to raise $1 billion for its EV unit VinFast.