SteelSeries is one of the biggest names in PC gaming, particularly with regard to eSports peripherals. Now it is set to become part of the GN Group, a provider of intelligent hearing, audio and video collaboration solutions. The CEO of SteelSeries has welcomed the acquisition, saying the deal will accelerate its growth, and assured fans of the hardware that SteelSeries will remain an independent business unit of GN.
You probably aren’t familiar with GN Group, but it was founded an impressive 150 years ago and this Danish company currently markets its ‘Hear More, Do More and Be More’ solutions via brands like ReSound, Beltone, Interton, Jabra, BlueParrott and FalCom. GN Group CEO René Svendsen-Tune said he has great admiration for SteelSeries and its gear, and that together they will go forward thanks to “industry defining innovation”.
SteelSeries has been in business for over 20 years and has forged ahead in eSports and gaming “with world-class products and software,” according to its CEO, Ehtisham Rabbani. The existing leadership team and organisation will stay in place, as an independent business unit of GN Group. Rabbani must be expecting improved funding, distribution, R&D resources or other useful resources from GN, as he seems to now confidently expect SteelSeries growth to accelerate.
GN likely sees the eSports business as lucrative and complementary to its current brand and technologies portfolio. One must remember, SteelSeries has good partnerships with various systems makers. Moreover, you might not know that SteelSeries have some useful brands of their own which will be good for GN Group’s portfolio, such as 3D audio specialist Nahimic and gaming controller accessories maker KontrolFreek, both acquired in 2020.
GN Group will pay approx US$1.2 billion for SteelSeries, with the deal expected to close sometime next year, as long as it gets approved by regulators.
The last SteelSeries product reviewed on Bit-Tech was the ‘Exceptional’ rated SteelSeries Arctis Pro +GameDAC.
Tama Howe
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