Gfinity raises £6.25m to launch Elite Series e-sports competition

E-sports business Gfinity has secured a gross £6.25m of new funds in a discounted and oversubscribed institutional placing on Friday, which knocked the shares down further from their recent two-year high.

The AIM-listed company, which wants the funds to help accelerate growth with new staff and technology, has placed 32.25m shares, representing 16.6% of its newly expanded share capital, with new and existing investors.

The 20p placing price was at a discount to the 24.4p closing price on Thursday and accelerated the retreat from the recent high of 28.9p.

But it was a big improvement on the dismal 5p placing price at which it raised £3.7m last July, which may have disappointed investors but helped fund the encouraging growth and strong share price recovery since.

Gfinity, which floating at 17p in December 2014, said on Friday that the new £6m or so funds after fees will be used to help launch its Elite Series this summer, develop a proprietary competition management software platform, invest in staff in the lead up to the launch of the Elite Series and invest in broadcast technology "to further differentiate quality of Gfinity production from that of its competitors".

Chief executive Neville Upton said: "Importantly, we are now well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity presented by continuing growth in the eSports sector and the strong reputation that the company has already carved out within that.”