Wednesday, May 8th 2024
Corsair Pursuing an Acquisition of Fanatec, the Leading Brand for Sim Racing Hardware
Corsair announced today that it has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire sim racing specialist Endor AG, owners of the world famous Fanatec brand. Corsair has reached an agreement with Endor to fund its short-term cash needs while both companies negotiate a restructuring of Endor's approximately €70 million of debt, which will ultimately result in Corsair acquiring Endor. "Fanatec is an incredible brand with a strong community, and we believe Corsair is the ideal home for Fanatec's loyal customers, employees and business partners," said Corsair CEO, Andy Paul. "This transaction would solve the company's significant debt load and position the company for growth and continued product portfolio expansion."
This sentiment is echoed by Endor. "We are very pleased to have found a strategic investor in Corsair who knows our market well and wants to invest for the long term," said Andres Ruff, CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer of Endor. Endor is a leading manufacturer of dedicated sim racing hardware, including force feedback steering wheels, pedals, and complete cockpits for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC-based racing simulators. This acquisition bolsters the investment Corsair has made in the simulation space, and means it is uniquely positioned going forward to provide peerless sim racing solutions.
This sentiment is echoed by Endor. "We are very pleased to have found a strategic investor in Corsair who knows our market well and wants to invest for the long term," said Andres Ruff, CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer of Endor. Endor is a leading manufacturer of dedicated sim racing hardware, including force feedback steering wheels, pedals, and complete cockpits for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC-based racing simulators. This acquisition bolsters the investment Corsair has made in the simulation space, and means it is uniquely positioned going forward to provide peerless sim racing solutions.
26 Comments on Corsair Pursuing an Acquisition of Fanatec, the Leading Brand for Sim Racing Hardware
Corsair's expertise (besides RGB) is providing the guidence and resources to take a manufacturer to the next level and help it overcome it's shortcomings.It also sounded like the German government caught wind of them fixing the books to create those insane golden parachutes. So a Corsair buyout is attractive to those greedy executives who will at least get something.
I jest
As for the compatibility - it's normal that every sim racing brand has it's own hardware and drivers. You can buy 3D printed adapters to fit different wheels on bases of Fanatec, Moza, Simucube etc., but what about the software? If You're looking for widespread standards, there is one - the one for force feedback effects. That's why multiple different brand of wheelsets can work in all those racing games. But that standard is a bit old (more than 20yo), so new ones, like Log Truforce, or Fanatec Fullforce came to be. And this becomes a real problem - similar to physics and raytracing engines for nV and AMD cards - proprietary FFB standards...
Yes - the CSL DD still relies on plastic for the main shaft, but what do You expect from a cheap DD base? Until Moza appeared with their R5 and R9 systems, we did not have a true alternative. And while I really do like Moza's software, people testing sim racing all agree, that Fanatec's FF is a bit more detailed. And there are way more steering wheels to choose from.