Midnight Gaming set to acquire TGS Esports for £11m

UPDATE 21/07/2023: TGS Esports announced on July 10th it had terminated this acquisition agreement, six months after it had first been announced.

TGS Esports
Image credit: TGS Esports

Illinois-based gaming and entertainment company Midnight Gaming has entered an agreement to acquire Canadian game marketing solutions provider TGS Esports.

The deal sees Midnight acquire all of TGS’ outstanding securities. TGS’ deal with
Midnight, it is hoped, will help provide the company with opportunities to drive additional revenue, as well as to help the entertainment company access a larger audience of gaming enthusiasts.

Following the completion of the acquisition, Midnight Gaming expects to list on the NASDAQ in an effort to drive further investment. TGS CEO Spiro Khouri will become CEO of Midnight Gaming, while the current Midnight CEO will serve as Executive Chairman. Both men will sit on the company board.

The cost of TGS’ total assets is estimated to be around $13.9m (~£11.2m). A press release confirmed that TGS would continue its activities which include working on brand partnerships; consulting for brands wanting to enter the gaming space and assisting with the broadcast of esports events through its physical space in Richmond, British Columbia.

TGS Esports was founded in 2018 when it built Canada’s first dedicated gaming arena. Since then, it has offered a full-service esports broadcast solution to its clients, in addition to coordinating brand partnerships with notable sponsors such as Intel, Redbull and Durex. It helps produce tournaments for influencers and leagues, as well as owning productions for some of Canada’s scholastic leagues.

Midnight Gaming will also continue its activities hosting esports broadcasts on its TV network, GTV. It also plans to explore physical esports events—a goal that is likely to be easier following its acquisition of TGS.

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Khouri commented that the two corporations’ alignments were ‘perfect’, while thanking fintech platform NextPlay for their patience amidst circumstances that resulted in NextPlay’s deal to be partially acquired by TGS falling through.

“With the acquisition of TGS Esports, Midnight Gaming Corp, its investors and employees are very excited for the future”, commented Kinney McGraw, CEO of Midnight Gaming. “TGS has a proven business model and adds tremendous value to Midnight.  Midnight and TGS together will make an impact in the esports and gaming events and media space for many years to come.”

Patrick Walker
Patrick is a freelance writer for ESI based in London, reporting on esports marketing and partnerships trends. He's currently playing VALORANT and Overwatch but always looking for the next big thing in competitive gaming.