Torque Esports, Frankly and WinView to Form an Esports Platform

On Friday (November 22), Torque Esports (TSXV:GAME,OTCQB:MLLF), Frankly (TSXV:TLK.V,OTCQX:FRNKF) and WinView announced they will form a new entertainment entity called ENGINE Media Holdings.

ENGINE’s business model is to provide an immersive streaming platform that focuses on news, sports and esports content. Using the combined assets of Torque, Frankly and Winview, the core of the new entity will focus on providing a live esports platform that offers immersive experiences within the space, including hosting Call of Duty esports tournaments and running a Miami-based esports arena.

“As the entertainment streaming wars set the path for the future of entertainment programming, the media industry’s approach to developing revenue sources for news and sports, and monetizing live programming, has to change,” Tom Rogers, executive chairman of WinView and chairman of Frankly, said in a press release.

As part of the deal, Torque will acquire all of Frankly and WinView’s outstanding shares. Common shares of Frankly will be exchanged on a one-for-one basis. As of Tuesday (November 26), Frankly’s shares were sitting at C$0.62.

When it comes to WinView, 26.4 million Torque Esports shares will be exchanged for WinView’s shares, valued at close to C$30.36 million as of 1:48 p.m. EST Tuesday.

Along with this, as part of the terms of the agreement, the companies signed a letter of intent which — if following certain conditions — will reach a definitive agreement by December 20, 2019. As such, the transaction is anticipated to close by the first quarter of 2020.

Upon ENGINE’s launch, it will deploy key assets from the trio of companies. For example, Torque Esports runs a gaming studio based in France called Eden Games, as well as Stream Hatchett, an esports data analytics company.

Frankly, on the other hand, operates a live video on demand platform designed for monetizing digital content. Headquartered in New York, Frankly has worked with clients including VICE, Newsweek and CNN.

Based in Silicon Valley, WinView is a real-time mobile sports betting platform. Together, the three companies will debut a new entertainment company that seeks to disrupt existing media channels in this space.

On Tuesday, Torque provided an update to note that Frankly will advance WinView C$100,000 for the purposes of legal fees associated with the transaction, in addition to Torque exchanging 26.4 million common shares for the securities of WinView.

“With a leadership position in esports racing, including a global television show; analytics and measurement of esports streaming; and an array of tournaments geared toward the most popular esports games, ENGINE will be positioned to ‘accelerate’ multiple revenue streams for the esports industry,” said Darren Cox, CEO of Torque Esports.

Since the announcement, shares of Torque Esports have dropped over 16 percent to C$1.32 as of 1:32 EST Tuesday.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Dorothy Neufeld, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.