Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke increased his stake in the club to 67.09% with the purchase of 22 ordinary shares. The 70-year-old's company, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment UK Inc., acquired the shares at a price of £28,000 ($39,195) each, meaning an investment of £616,000 ($862,289) to up his holding by 0.04% (London EVENING STANDARD, 1/23).
Esports One, a company developing real-time data and analytics solutions for esports broadcasts, announced the close of a $3M seed round. The funding was co-led by XSeed Capital and Eniac Ventures, with participation from Crest Capital -- "this being the first esports venture for all three firms." Esports One's first platform, designed around League of Legends, uses proprietary computer vision technology, machine learning and custom datasets (THE ESPORTS OBSERVER, 1/23).
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Former Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda won the bidding for the Niki airline he founded, "convincing the insolvent carrier's administrators in marathon talks and undoing an agreed deal with British Airways owner IAG." The previously agreed sale of Niki to IAG "fell through after two courts ruled the insolvency proceedings had to move to Austria from Germany." The purchase price was not disclosed (REUTERS, 1/23).
