GameSquare shareholders approve FaZe merger
GameSquare shareholders voted today to approve the company's upcoming merger with FaZe, the North American esports and culture brand. The merger is expected to close in the near term.
FaZe shareholders had already approved the merger during their special meeting on February 16th. 91% of shareholders voted to approve the merger between the two parties, following the recommendation from the Board of Directors.
Likewise, GameSquare's Board of Directors unanimously recommended that shareholders vote to approve the merger.
This will likely bring an end to a twice-delayed merger that has been the subject of much attention within the Counter-Strike community. The deal was originally supposed to close towards the end of 2023, but was then delayed to February 15th, just to be delayed once more.
Fans and stakeholders within the Counter-Strike ecosystem are concerned about potential conflicts of interest with the merger. Complexity and FaZe operate teams that often compete in the same tournaments despite being based on separate continents. Additionally, both parties are members of ESL and BLAST's closed-circuit leagues, which will be ending in 2025.
With the PGL Copenhagen Major on the horizon, Valve will examine how Complexity and FaZe plan on ensuring competitive integrity when GameSquare owns both entities.
When the deal was first brought to the public's attention, ESL told Dust2.us that they were "examining the potential implications this may have on (their participation in) our tournaments and our business relations".
There is some hope that Complexity and FaZe would not be put into any sort of precarious position as Complexity CEO Jason Lake has explored re-acquiring the company from GameSquare. Back in December, Lake was reportedly on a roadshow with trips to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to secure investment ahead of this potential move.
