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This month we see new investments and divestments as well as a batch of sponsorship and partnership announcements in the Australia and New Zealand news recap.
Chiefs Esports Club Acquired By ICON Esports
One of Australia’s most successful esports organizations, Chiefs Esports Club 
, has been acquired by ICON Esports. The acquisition will see the Chiefs brand live on and grow to take on ownership of all ICON esports teams, including its existing Rocket League team.
ICON was created earlier this year, with the acquisition of another esports organization in February 2019, Tainted Minds, by a group of private investors.
The Chiefs’ owner, Frank Li, joins the leadership structure of ICON Esports as part of the acquisition.
The Chiefs are Australia’s most successful esports organization to date, winning the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League four times, the ESL AU&NZ CS:GO Championship three times, and a top-four finish at the Rocket League Championship Series Season 6 in Las Vegas.
Optus Announced as the Latest Major Sponsor of Meta High School Esports
Credit: Meta High School Esports
Meta High School Esports continues to add sponsors to its program with the announcement that telecommunications company Optus has become a major sponsor.
Meta has recently announced partnerships with Intel and Acer, as well as an ongoing partnership with higher education institution Torrens University Australia.
Meta is owned by the Adelaide Crows Football Club, which also owns the Legacy Esports organization. Meta operates tournaments for high schools in League of Legends, Rocket League, and NBA 2K19 .
Meta’s national championship finals will take place at the Melbourne Esports Open on August 31 and Sept. 1, where finals for Overwatch Contenders and League of Legends OPL will also take place.
Gfinity Australia Launches iRacing Supercars Eseries Event
Credit: Gfinity Australia
After an initial announcement in April, Gfinity Australia has presented full details for its new iRacing Supercars Eseries, including broadcast partnerships, tournament schedule and brand partnerships.
Supercars is the name of the Australian touring car championship, with the iRacing Supercars Eseries featuring 12 participating teams, most branded in line with teams in the Supercars championship.
The 16 race series will debut on Sept. 24, with weekly events taking place every Tuesday night and broadcast live to Gfinity Australia and Supercars social media channels, as well as to cable channel Fox Sports and sports subscription service Kayo Sports.
The first round will take place at the Gfinity Arena, an esports event space in Sydney, Australia, devised in conjunction with Hoyts Cinemas. The rest of the series will take place in an online format.
The new series includes a drafting opportunity for public participants to be recruited to teams based on performance in a three-day window on a famous Australian race track.
Gfinity Australia is a separately licensed offshoot of the UK’s Gfinity, owned and operated by Australian media and entertainment company HT&E.
Guinevere Capital To Sell Dire Wolves Due To Excel Esports Ownership
Credit: Dire Wolves
Sports investment group Guinevere Capital has announced it has begun the process of divesting its ownership of Australia’s Dire Wolves esports team. It is seeking interest from potential investors to buy out its stake in Dire Wolves.
The divestment is required as a condition of Excel Esports’ entry into the League European Championship (LEC) and Guinevere Capital was informed at that time that this would be required. Guinevere became the majority owner of Excel in Sept. 2018.
The move was mandated by Riot Games as it was deemed too great a potential future conflict to own two professional League of Legends teams as they could potentially meet at an international tournament.
Guinevere Capital also continues to run the Esports High Performance Centre in Sydney, Australia, as well as Australia’s Drop Bears Overwatch Contenders team and FIFA -focused N8 Esports.
Sennheiser Becomes Headset Sponsor For ESL AU & NZ Championship
Credit: ESL
ESL Australia’s AU&NZ Championship has announced a partnership with Sennheiser as its headset sponsor. The championship covers three esports: Dota 2 , CS:GO, and PUBG , with three seasons each year and over 30 participating teams.
The championship features two live events and AU$60K ($42.4K USD) in prize money.
