MAD Lions & Toronto Ultra owners raise $40m from Montreal Canadiens and NHL stars

❘ Published: 2021-04-13T13:00:03

Montreal Canadiens/Michal Konkol/Riot Games

Esports ownership group OverActive Media has received a $40m investment from NHL team Montreal Canadiens, as well as two current hockey professionals.

The company owns and operates Spanish brand MAD Lions, Call of Duty franchise Toronto Ultra, and Overwatch franchise Toronto Defiant.

This funding marks the first involvement for the Montreal Canadiens, a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec, Canada. They have joined OAM’s ownership group alongside a bevy of athletes and celebrities.

Phil Kessel of the Arizona Coyotes and Carl Hagelin of the Washington Capitals, two professional ice hockey players, have also contributed towards the investment.

MAD Lions reverse sweep Rogue to win maiden LEC Spring 2021 title.

OAM’s MAD Lions won the LEC Spring trophy earlier in April 2021.

This funding follows on from OverActive Media announcing in March that they intended to go public. The company are looking to merge with Abigail Capital Corporation, who completed their initial public offering in August 2019, to become a publicly-listed entity.

Read More: New esports org Semper Fortis plan to go public

These are not the only notable names to be involved with the owners of the Ultra, Defiant, and MAD Lions. Toronto Maples’ Mitch Marner and Grammy Award-winning artist The Weeknd are also part of the company’s ownership group.

OverActive Media are coming off of the back of a successful weekend of competition among their brands. On April 12, MAD Lions completed a reverse sweep against Rogue to win their inaugural title in Riot Games’ LEC. On the same day, Toronto Ultra took home the trophy from the $500K Stage 2 Major in the Call of Duty League.

GET THE CHAMPAGNE & MAPLE SYRUP 🍾🍁

We are your #CDL2021 Major II CHAMPIONS!@Bance | @CammyMVP | @InsightGawd | @TCleanX | @Methodz | @MarkyB | @RBOFLX #StrengthInTheNorth #CDL2021 pic.twitter.com/M675wVVINP

— Toronto Ultra (@TorontoUltra) April 12, 2021

“We are thrilled to be joining this already strong partnership group led by the Kimel family, Sheldon Pollack and Bell,” said Geoff Molson, CEO and Co-Owner of the Montreal Canadiens.

“We have been following the incredible progress of the OverActive Media team for more than two years. They are an impressive operation and clearly a leading organization in the global esports industry. We could not be more excited for our future together.”