J55 Capital Corp. ("
J55") (TSX-V: FIVE.P) and
Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. ("
Enthusiast")
(TSX-V: EGLX) are pleased to announce that they, along with
Luminosity Gaming Inc. (“
Luminosity Gaming”) and
Aquilini GameCo Inc. (“
GameCo”), have completed
their previously announced transactions, as described below,
resulting in the formation of the leading publicly traded esports
and gaming media organization in North America. The merged entity,
to be called Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (“
Enthusiast
Gaming”), is expected to commence trading on the TSX
Venture Exchange (“
TSXV”) on or about September 9,
2019 under the symbol “EGLX”.
Menashe Kestenbaum, President of
Enthusiast Gaming, commented, “Our vision when we founded
Enthusiast was to build the largest, vertically integrated
esports and gaming company in the world. The merger with Aquilini
GameCo and Luminosity was a strategic decision that positions us as
a dominant player in the gaming industry and unlocks access to
Luminosity’s 60 million dedicated esports fans and one of the
largest esports franchises. I look forward to working with our new
partners to continue to build and diversify Enthusiast Gaming
across the esports, gaming and entertainment sectors.”
Enthusiast is party to a long-term management
services agreement with the Vancouver Titans to manage the team
which was founded in 2018 and is competing in its first season in
the Overwatch League. Overwatch League is an esports competition
with 20 teams across six countries and three continents, all
centered on the popular first-person shooter game Overwatch.
Enthusiast is also party to a long-term services support agreement
with Vancouver Arena Limited Partnership (“VALP”)
pursuant to which VALP will provide Enthusiast with a broad range
of marketing and business support services, including corporate
partnership and selling support, retail support, brand association
and marketing support (to be provided by Canucks Sports and
Entertainment), esports planning and execution, digital and social
media support and back office support.
J55 also announced today a second consolidation
(the “Second Consolidation”, which together with
the First Consolidation (as defined in the joint management
information circular of J55 and Enthusiast dated July 23, 2019),
are herein referred to as the “Consolidations”) of
the issued and outstanding common shares of the merged entity on
the basis of 8 post-First Consolidation J55 Shares for 1
post-Second Consolidation J55 Share.
Plan of Arrangement
J55 and Enthusiast have completed their
previously announced arrangement (the
"Arrangement"), pursuant to which J55 has acquired
all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Enthusiast (the
“Enthusiast Shares”) by way of a plan of
arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario).
Under the terms of the Arrangement, each former
Enthusiast Shareholder received 4.22 post-First Consolidation J55
Shares for each Enthusiast Share held immediately prior to the
Arrangement (the "Consideration"). It is
anticipated that the Enthusiast Shares will be delisted from the
TSXV effective as of the close of trading on or about September 4,
2019.
In order to receive the Consideration,
registered shareholders of Enthusiast Shares will be required to
deposit their share certificate(s) or direct registration
statement(s) representing Enthusiast Shares, together with the duly
completed letter of transmittal, with TSX Trust Company, the
depositary under the Arrangement. Shareholders whose Enthusiast
Shares are registered in the name of a broker, dealer, bank, trust
company or other nominee should contact their nominee regarding the
receipt of the Consideration. For more information, contact:
TSX Trust CompanyTelephone: 416-361-0930Email:
TMXEInvestorServices@tmx.com
Holders of options to purchase Enthusiast Shares
(“Enthusiast Options”) may exercise their
Enthusiast Options, subject to the adjustments in accordance with
the Arrangement Agreement, to acquire common shares in the capital
of J55 at the same conversion ratio applicable to the Enthusiast
Shares. All other terms governing the Enthusiast Options,
including, but not limited to, the expiry term, vesting and the
conditions to and the manner of exercise, will be the same as the
terms that were in effect immediately prior to the Effective
Date.
Warrants to purchase Enthusiast Shares (the
“Enthusiast Warrants”), other than those that have
been exercised prior to August 30, 2019 (the “Effective
Date”), will continue to remain outstanding as Enthusiast
Warrants which, upon exercise, will entitle the holder thereof to
receive, in lieu of the number of Enthusiast Shares to which such
holder was theretofore entitled upon exercise of such Enthusiast
Warrants, the Consideration that such holder would have been
entitled to be issued and receive if, immediately prior to the
Effective Date, such holder had been the registered holder of the
number of Enthusiast Shares to which such holder was theretofore
entitled upon exercise of such Enthusiast Warrants. All other terms
governing the Enthusiast Warrants, including, but not limited to,
the expiry term and the conditions to and the manner of exercise,
will be the same as the terms that were in effect immediately prior
to the Effective Date, and shall be governed by the terms of the
applicable warrant indenture.
Amalgamation of J55 and
GameCoImmediately prior to the completion of the
Arrangement, J55 completed the acquisition of GameCo (the
“Amalgamation”, together with the Arrangement, the
“Transactions”). The Amalgamation was completed
pursuant to the terms and conditions of an amalgamation agreement
(the “Amalgamation Agreement”) between J55 and
GameCo pursuant to which J55 acquired all of the outstanding
securities of GameCo in exchange for securities of J55. The
Amalgamation constituted J55’s Qualifying Transaction (as defined
in the policies of the TSXV). On closing of the Amalgamation, all
of the issued and outstanding securities of GameCo were exchanged
for corresponding securities of J55 as follows:
- each of the 309,572,066 common
shares of GameCo (the “GameCo Shares”) were
cancelled and, in consideration thereof, each GameCo shareholder
received one (post-First Consolidation) J55 common share (a
“J55 Share”);
- each of the 2,181,690 warrants to
purchase GameCo Shares (the “GameCo Warrants”)
were exchanged for warrants to purchase the corresponding number of
(post-First Consolidation) J55 Shares on the same terms as those
contained in the GameCo Warrants, and each such GameCo Warrant was
cancelled; and
- each of the options to purchase
GameCo Shares (the “GameCo Options”) were
exchanged for options to purchase the corresponding number of
(post-First Consolidation) J55 Shares on the same terms as those
contained in the GameCo Options, and each such GameCo Option was
cancelled.
Immediately prior to the closing of the
Amalgamation, J55 completed the First Consolidation, consolidating
its outstanding common shares on the basis of 1.25 pre-First
Consolidation shares for every one post-First Consolidation share.
Convertible debentures of GameCo in the aggregate principal amount
of $10 million were also exchanged for equivalent convertible
debentures of J55 (the “J55 Debentures”) pursuant
to the Amalgamation, but the J55 Debentures were converted into an
aggregate of 22,222,222 J55 Shares at $0.45 per J55 Share pursuant
to the terms of the applicable convertible debenture indenture, on
completion of the Arrangement.
GameCo Acquisition of Luminosity
Gaming
Prior to completing the Amalgamation, GameCo
completed its acquisition of Luminosity Gaming and Luminosity
Gaming (USA), LLC (“Luminosity USA”, which
together with Luminosity Gaming, is herein referred to as
‘Luminosity”) (the “Luminosity
Acquisition”). Luminosity is a globally recognized esports
organization founded by Steve Maida. Luminosity operates in North
America and is based in Toronto, Canada. GameCo completed the
Luminosity Acquisition in accordance with a share purchase
agreement dated February 14, 2019 pursuant to which GameCo acquired
Luminosity in exchange for the payment of $1.5 million cash, the
issuance of 60 million common shares of GameCo, and the issuance of
a $2.0 million unsecured promissory note.
Immediately following the completion of the
Luminosity Acquisition, the subscription receipts sold pursuant to
GameCo’s March 2019 $25,000,200 subscription receipt financing were
automatically converted into common shares of GameCo pursuant to
the terms of the financing and the escrowed proceeds of the
financing were released from escrow to GameCo upon satisfaction of
the escrow release conditions.
Second Consolidation and Name
Change
The ex-dividend date for the Second
Consolidation is September 5, 2019, with the new CUSIP number being
made eligible on such date. The Second Consolidation is effective
as of September 9, 2019, and the J55 Shares will be listed on the
TSXV on a post-Second Consolidation basis effective at the opening
of the market on such date. Immediately prior to the Second
Consolidation, there were 571,184,323 J55 Shares issued and
outstanding. Following the Second Consolidation, there are
approximately 71,398,036 J55 Shares issued and outstanding. Share
certificates and direct registration statements, as applicable,
will be sent to registered shareholders following completion of the
Second Consolidation reflecting the adjustments to their
shareholdings as a result of the Consolidations, as applicable.
In connection with the Transactions, effective
as of September 5, 2019, J55 will also change its name from “J55
Capital Corp.” to “Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc.”, and change its
trading symbol to “EGLX”. Enthusiast will change its name to
“Enthusiast Gaming Properties Inc.” and the Enthusiast Shares will
be delisted from the TSXV and the OTCQB, and Enthusiast will apply
to cease to be a reporting issuer.
Senior Management and Board of Directors
of the Merged Company
The senior management team of Enthusiast Gaming
draws from the extensive experience and expertise of the merging
companies and consists of:
Chief Executive Officer: Adrian Montgomery President: Menashe
Kestenbaum President of Esports: Steve Maida President of EGLive:
Corey Mandell Chief Operating Officer and SVP Finance: Eric
Bernofsky Chief Financial Officer: Alex Macdonald Chief Information
Officer: Meir Bulua
The board of directors of Enthusiast consists of
the following seven directors: Francesco Aquilini (Non-Executive
Chair), Adrian Montgomery, Steve Maida, Menashe Kestenbaum, Alan
Friedman, Ben Colabrese and Michael Beckerman.
Advisors
Canaccord Genuity Corp. acted as GameCo’s
exclusive financial advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
acted as GameCo’s legal advisor in connection with the
Transactions. Haywood Securities Inc. acted as Enthusiast’s
financial advisor, and Stikeman Elliott LLP and Minden Gross LLP
acted as Enthusiast’s legal advisors in connection with the
Arrangement. Clark Wilson LLP acted as J55’s legal advisor in
connection with the Transactions.
Further information about the Transactions and
Consolidations is set forth in the joint information circular of
Enthusiast and J55 dated July 23, 2019 which was mailed to the
shareholders of Enthusiast and J55, and which is available under
their respective profiles on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF J55
“Adrian Montgomery” Adrian
MontgomeryChief Executive Officer and Director
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking
Information
Certain statements in this release are
forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements
consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any
statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions
regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or
developments to differ materially from those contained in the
statements, including risks related to factors beyond the control
of J55 or Enthusiast. The risks include risks that are
customary to transactions of this nature. No assurance can be
given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking
statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits J55 or
Enthusiast will obtain from them.
This press release does not constitute an offer
to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in
the United States. The securities have not been and will not
be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws
and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to a
U.S. Person unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and
applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such
registration is available.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information regarding J55 or
Enthusiast, please contact:
Julia BeckerHead of Investor Relations &
MarketingTelephone: 604-785-0850Email:
jbecker@enthusiastgaming.com
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