Allied Esports Entertainment Inc., an operator of venues and live events for video gaming enthusiasts, has moved its headquarters from Irvine to New York City, marking the latest chapter in a turbulent few years for the company, which went public in 2019.
An Allied Esports Entertainment spokesperson said there are no longer any employees in Irvine, though the company’s one-time main affiliate, the World Poker Tour, remains based in the city.
SPAC Mixed Results
Allied (Nasdaq: AESE) went public in 2019 around $10 a share, following a reverse merger with Black Ridge Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Company.
It was one of the first such Orange County businesses to use a SPAC vehicle to tap the public markets. Its valuation was around $200 million at the time the reverse merger was announced, though its valuation soon declined.
The company’s shares were trading around $1.73 as of last week, and Allied had a valuation in the $67 million range.
Shares in the company took a hit during the pandemic, as in-person events slowed down and Allied’s plans to expand into shopping malls were unable to move ahead in earnest.
Among other pandemic-related issues, Allied’s flagship HyperX arena in Las Vegas had a lengthy shuttering after the onset of COVID-19 in the U.S., leading to large revenue losses.
WPT Sale
Allied sold off its most valuable asset, the World Poker Tour, last year after a multi-month bidding war.
The sale to Element Partners LLC, an entity with ties to the online gaming tech industry and professional poker players, ultimately went through at $105 million.
The WPT sale left Allied Esports to chart a new path.
Last November Allied said it would focus on selling its esports division and would evaluate the acquisition of one or more companies, using money on hand from the WPT sale. It hasn’t announced any such deals yet.
The company said one undisclosed bidder was interested, but a deal didn’t move ahead.
Exec Swaps
The company’s seen a series of executive changes of late; former CEO Libing (Claire) Wu announced her departure in February. Former CEO Frank Ng, who headed the company when it went public, resigned last July.
Well-known poker player and business executive Lyle Berman serves as the company’s chief executive. He previously headed the SPAC that brought Allied Esports Entertainment public.
“Over the past several months, we have made substantial progress in our previously stated objective to identify opportunities to invest the cash on our balance sheet to acquire or merge with an existing business,” Berman said in February.
The company reported having about $95 million of cash on hand as of Sept. 30, according to a quarterly financial report.
