North American organization Rise is in negotiations with an unnamed company to sell its VALORANT team, multiple sources with knowledge of the transaction told Dot Esports on Jan. 17.
Talks between the two parties remain ongoing following several weeks of discussion. The negotiations are “going well” and “close to being done,” according to a member of Rise management that requested to remain anonymous.
The Rise players will remain as five and likely compete under a new banner for the upcoming VALORANT Champions Tour in North America, which is set to begin on Jan. 27.
Throughout the negotiation process, there were several top organizations that wanted to acquire multiple members of the Rise team. During FaZe Clan’s rebuild from November onwards, the organization approached the Rise players.
FaZe Clan offered half a million dollars to Rise for the acquisition of Jason “neptune” Tran, Kevin “POISED” Ngo, Derrek Ha, and Phat “supamen” Le to join its VALORANT roster, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the deal.
The offer did not include the acquisition of Rise duelist Ryan “shanks” Ngo, however, since FaZe Clan retained 26-year-old Andrej “babybay” Francisty. FaZe did not respond to comment when approached by Dot Esports.
The Rise core did not want to leave Shanks, however, according to multiple sources close to the players. A deal between the two organizations was not met.
Both teams will compete in the upcoming VCT, however. FaZe Clan recently practiced with former 100 Thieves player Quan “Dicey” Tran and former Immortals player Andrew “ShoT_UP” Orlowski, as first reported by Dot Esports.
