Immortals have completed a $30 million Series B funding round and will rebrand their holding company and undergo executive changes that include founder Noah Whinston stepping down from a managerial role in the company, the team told ESPN on Wednesday.
Immortals will rebrand their holding company to be named Immortals Gaming Club, which owns the Immortals, Los Angeles Valiant and MIBR brands. The company has also acquired Gamers Club, the leading Brazilian game matchmaking platform.
Immortals CEO Ari Segal told ESPN the company will use the $30 million to fulfill their franchise payments to the Overwatch League, expand Gamers Club and seek new opportunities in the market.
Among those opportunities, Immortals is currently one of a few bidders looking to acquire part of Infinite Esports & Entertainment, which would include OpTic Gaming and their League of Legends Championship Series spot, sources familiar with that sale process told ESPN. The sale is currently being facilitated by investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase. Segal declined to comment on Immortals’ bid on Infinite.
Infinite first went up for majority sale in January, originally seeking $150 million for all of their business, which includes OpTic Gaming and their Overwatch League team, the Houston Outlaws. If Immortals were to win that bid, they would not be allowed to retain the Outlaws due to league-wide multi-ownership rules, league sources said.
The $30 million raise comes from several existing stakeholders, including L.A. Live owner AEG, Lionsgate, D.C. United and Swansea City A.F.C. co-owner Steve Kaplan, former eBay and HP CEO Meg Whitman, and March Capital Partners founder Gregory Milken and his father, Milken Family Foundation co-founder Michael. New investors in the group include John Griffin, Oaktree Capital managing director George Leiva and March Capital Partners.
Whinston has stepped down from his role as executive chairman, which he was given in December after former Immortals president Ari Segal succeeded him as CEO. Whinston declined to comment on his departure.
“Noah is a significant holder of company stock,” Segal told ESPN. “He is no longer with the company in an official capacity, but I actually talked to him [Tuesday]. The startup experience is turbulent; esports is a tough industry, and our company now is a mature operating business. I very much appreciated that Noah tapped me on the shoulder and felt that I would be capable of leading the company in this next phase. He’s not in the office day-to-day, but as an important shareholder, has every desire to succeed.”
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