After teasing an announcement yesterday, French organization Karmine Corp have finally confirmed their entry into LEC for 2024.

Image Credit: Riot Games

Karmine Corp have bought a majority of Astralis’ LEC franchising slot

The French organization made the official announcement on October 18 through a livestream by its owner Kamel ‘Kameto’ Kebir. The announcement was also confirmed by the LEC official account on Twitter.

KCorp have acquired a major stake in the slot owned by Danish esports organization Astralis, which is leaving the LEC. That being said, Astralis will still have a minority stake in the franchise slot.

The Danish organization reported that it entered into an agreement to transfer the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) slot (“the LEC slot”) to a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary AK-Game SAS at a total agreed valuation of DKK 194 million (~€26.000.000). And that Karmine Corp SAS would then acquire 66.67% of the shares in AK-Game SAS for DKK 129 million (~€17.290.200).

The company added that the sale is subject to a number of conditions which are expected to be fulfilled in the near future and the transfer of the LEC slot is expected to come into force in November 2023. The agreement includes also clauses that allow Astralis to initiate additional share transfers, transferring 100% of its shares to KCorp by 2031.

As for the players, the LEC announced that all five players from the 2023 season will become free agents at the start of the transfer window.

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KCorp will still run a second team in the LFL

The deal was already rumored last month when Kameto revealed at the KCX3 that the organization was in negotiations to enter the LEC. Now, we will see KCorp both in the primary European League as well as the LFL, as the organization will run an Academy team, led by their star player Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert, who is yet to come of age and won’t be able to play in LEC until next year.

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With its great fan base and overall brand identity, KCorp marks a new era for the European esports scene. Their entry into the league will bring a new wave of fans and enthusiasm which will likely allow LEC to make another jump, elevating the level of competition to new peaks.

Note: The DKK-Euro exchange rates in this article were taken on October 18.