Turtle Entertainment, the European leader in eSports and organizer of the Electronic Sports League (ESL), raised an undisclosed amount from a consortium of investors including Crédit Agricole Private Equity, Corporate Finance Partners CFP & Founders Investments GmbH & Co. KGaA and existing shareholder EKK Unternehmensbeteiligungen.

Turtle Entertainment has an excellent reputation in the world of eSports and a highly promising growth perspective. The Company successfully transformed the fascination with eSports into a competitive, technology-based, multiplayer environment for a wealth of computer games for all gaming-platforms and genres of games. More than two million registered users and over 490,000 registered teams frequently use Turtle Entertainment’s platform to gather and compete. With its 12 license partners, the ESL is a global brand, actively used in more than 35 countries.

Following the principals of classic sports, Turtle Entertainment positioned itself in the center of the online gaming community, bringing together gamers, spectators, advertisers and game developers. Today, the company already has ascended to a position like the NBA or FIFA has in classic sports.

Jens Hilgers, co-founder and CEO of Turtle Entertainment GmbH: “Together with our new investors, we are going to further strengthen our company and community culture and follow our long-term vision. We are now in the ideal position to leverage our activities in Europe as well as develop them in non-European growth markets”.

About Turtle Entertainment
Founded in 2000, Turtle Entertainment GmbH became the European leader in eSports and organizer of the Electronic Sports League (ESL). The Company organizes competitions, leagues, and live events in more than 35 countries. Turtle’s online platforms are the foundation of its services for the gamers and a central point of competitive and social interaction for the gaming community, serving more than two million registered users and 10 million unique visitors per month (IVW). Since 2007, Turtle is the majority shareholder of the Chinese eSports league PGL targeting the fast growing Asian online gaming market. Among Turtle Entertainment’s long-term customers are global brands, such as Intel, adidas, Volkswagen, Dell, Suzuki, ASUS, BitDefender, Sennheiser, Microsoft Sidewinder, Razor, Alienware and gamed.de.

Turtle Entertainment markets its products globally as the following brands: Electronic Sports League (ESL), ESL Amateur Series, ESL Pro Series, ESL Major Series, ESL European Nations Championship (ENC), ESL WC3L Series, ESL TV, Intel Extreme Masters, Consoles Sport League, United Consoles League, eSport Schulmeisterschaft, eSports Award and ESL Sports. Until the end of 2008, Turtle Entertainment distributed more than EUR 3 million in prize money.

About Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Crédit Agricole Private Equity is the Crédit Agricole group's private equity arm. Its team of fifty professionals supports companies at all stages of their growth and expansion, from start-up right through to sale, in a long-term relationship of mutual trust and proximity. As an active shareholder in over 250 companies, the Company aims at becoming a leading multi-specialist player in the private equity market. Crédit Agricole Private Equity‘s underlying goal is to provide investors with top tier quality management and investment returns.

About Corporate Finance Partners CFP & Founders Investments GmbH & Co. KGaA
Corporate Finance Partners CFP & Founders Investments GmbH & Co KGaA ("CFP & Founders Investments") is the co-investment vehicle of Corporate Finance Partners. More than 130 German founders, entrepreneurs and business partners provide CFP with further fund raising capabilities and a vast radar screen for deal sourcing. CFP & Founders Investments originates its transactions from the CFP deal flow and the CFP & Founders Network. CFP then screens the market and the potential target. In the case of a positive assessment, CFP becomes the retained adviser of the company and sets up a structured process to generate a lead investor, who will execute a full due diligence. CFP & Founders Investments co-invests at the same conditions as the lead investor. An own commercial due diligence will be performed involving founders and entrepreneurs with specific sector know how (reference calls, market assessment). Within the frame of the company mandate, CFP advises on further potential financing rounds and mergers & acquisitions while CFP & Founders Investments supports the company with expertise, commercial contacts and management capacities.

Corporate Finance Partners advised Turtle Entertainment in this transaction.