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GameSquare Pays $8.5M for Click Management + Revenue and EBITDA Valuation Multiples

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September 19, 2025

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Hi readers,

Today we congratulate our client Click Management on their sale to GameSquare. A great win for cofounders Emma Barnes, Grace Watkins, and Elliott Watkins, and their teams. 

While we normally can’t share deal details due to confidentiality, today we can dig into valuation and multiples due to public disclosures on the deal. This is the blessing of GameSquare being a public company. But, where there isn’t public disclosure, we can only share what’s reported in company press releases and trade reports due to confidentiality requirements.

As I’ve mentioned before, increased transparency around creator economy dealmaking is great for our growing industry – I wrote more about this in our DotDigital / Social Snowball deal analysis. 

Lastly, heads up that I depart for my honeymoon in Japan on Monday. I’ll be away for 2 weeks, so our newsletter will return Friday October 10th. Based on market momentum, I look forward to lots of creator deal flow to analyze upon my return…including some transactions we expect to announce very soon ;)

Other quick hits:

  • EVENTS:

  • OWM is hosting 150+ Founders & Creators at their 1st OWNERS ONLY event in NYC on Sep 30. Use this link and say CE referred you when registering

  • RockWater’s NYC holiday party is Dec 4. Details to come

  • HIRING:

  • We seek PT employees-in-training for M&A advisory

  • Our client Revry seeks a Head of Finance

  • COMPANIES FOR SALE NOW:

  • Talent mgmt in NYC | $3M EBITDA

  • Creator partnerships agency in US | < $1M EBITDA

  • Influencer mktg x talent mgmt in CA | $6.6M revenue

  • Content x talent co in AUS | < $1M EBITDA

  • …DM me for the CIMs

  • UPCOMING SALES:

  • Large global creator e-learning co

  • Digital media sales co in CA

  • IM and social commerce SaaS co

  • …DM me to get on buyers list via [email protected]

How RockWater can help you → DM me if you’re a creator economy or digital / audio agency co and need M&A or strategy help

Onward,

Chris, Founder of RockWater

GameSquare Pays $8.5M for Click Management + Revenue and EBITDA Valuation Multiples

By Chris Erwin

Let’s break it down…

–TARGET: Click Management–

Overview

  • Gaming-focused talent management company for creators and digital influencers

  • Founded by Grace Watkins (Co-CEO), Emma Barnes (Co-CEO), and Elliott Watkins

  • Elliott Watkins, Grace’s brother and Click co-founder, is a top Australian gaming YouTuber (Muselk with 9M+ subscribers)

  • Founders and majority of team based in Sydney, Australia, plus offices in NY

  • 50 members associated on LinkedIn

Company Highlights

  • 75 active gaming creators

  • 545 global commercial deals closed in 2024

  • Recently awarded “Best Talent Management Agency” by AiMCO

Business Lines

  • Talent Management & Representation…

  • Career strategy, contract negotiation, and opportunity sourcing

  • Comprehensive representation across YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, etc

  • Brand Partnerships & Campaigns…

  • Partnership activations across APAC, North America, and EMEA

  • Creator Platform Services…

  • Provides new creators with easy setup guides and help to start streaming, grow their channel, and engage viewers on Facebook Gaming

  • Twitch and Facebook Gaming onboarding, optimization, and platform education

  • Monetization support, content planning, and community growth programs

  • Social presence and cross-platform expansion services

Capital Markets History

  • Sep ‘25: Acquired by GameSquare for $8.5M upfront

Financials (USD)

  • Per Press Release…

  • PF 2025E Revenue: $14.5M, up 16.9% YoY 

  • PF 2025E EBITDA: $1.2M

  • 2024 Revenue: $12.4M

  • 2024 EBITDA: NA

–BUYER: GameSquare–

Overview

  • Next-generation media, entertainment, and technology company

  • Mission = transform how brands connect with Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Millennial audiences

  • M&A growth strategy includes 6 acquisitions and 2 divestitures since 2022

  • CEO is Justin Kenna, previously CFO of FaZe Clan

  • HQ in Frisco, TX, incl offices in UK and Spain 

  • 132 employees as of April 2025

  • Founded in 2011

Company Highlights

  • 1B+ audience reach through creators and media channels

  • 110+ brand partners across gaming and lifestyle

  • 1,800+ creator campaigns executed in 2024

  • Runs Ethereum treasury management program. Owns $35M ETH, has up to $250M authorization 

Business Lines

  • Media & Agency…

  • Gaming Community Network: digital media co for gaming / esports audiences

  • Mission Supply: merchandise and consumer products biz

  • FaZe: lifestyle and media platform rooted in gaming

  • Fourth Frame Studios: creative production studio

  • Zoned: gaming and lifestyle marketing agency

  • Code Red: UK-based esports talent agency

  • Frankly Media: programmatic advertising

  • Technology Solutions…

  • Sideqik: social influencer marketing platform

  • Stream Hatchet: livestreaming analytics

Stock Performance

  • Listed on NASDAQ: GAME

  • $0.74 as of 9.17.25

  • Down 3.5% MoM

  • Down 19% YoY

Financials (USD)

(per public filings. FY ends Dec 31)

  • PF 2H 2025 (incl Click)...

  • 2H 2025E Revenue: $36.8M, down 26% YoY

  • 2H 2024 Revenue: $50M

  • Down 26.2% YoY

  • 2H 2025 Adj EBITDA: $2.9M, 1st time profitable in 5+ years

  • 2H 2024 Adj EBITDA: ($6.5M)

  • FY 2024…

  • Revenue: $96.2M, up 133% YoY

  • Loss from continuing ops: ($46M), down from ($25M) YoY

  • Adj EBITDA: ($16M), down from ($11.1M) YoY

  • Adj EBITDA Margin: (16%)

  • Net loss: ($54.3M), down from ($31.3M) YoY

  • 2024 Segment Revenue…

  • Teams: $32.0M

  • Agency: $12.1M

  • SaaS + Advertising: $52.1M

Valuation

  • Mkt Cap: $73.7M

  • C&CE: $4.7M

  • Total Debt: $9.6M

  • Enterprise Value: $78.6M

  • Enterprise Value Multiples…

  • 2024 Revenue: 0.8x

  • 2024 EBITDA: NA

  • LTM June 2025 Revenue: 0.8x

  • LTM June 2025 EBITDA: NA

Capital Markets History

  • Sep ‘25: Acquired Click Management for $8.5M

  • Jul ‘25: Raised a second public offering worth $70M

  • Mar ‘24: Sold its esports team Complexity Gaming / NextGen Tech. to Global Esports Properties for $10.4M

  • Mar ‘24: Acquired FaZeHoldings for $17M (our deal analysis)

  • Dec ‘23: Sold Frankly Radio business to SoCast for $3.4M

  • Aug ‘22: Raised $3.24M in PIPE 

–DEAL DETAILS–

Overview

  • Announced September 10, 2025

  • $8.5M USD purchase price + $3M USD earnout

  • 100% buyout, founders stay on

Deal Consideration

  • $4.5M cash at close

  • $4.0M cash within 60 days of Dec 31

  • $3.0M potential earnout over next 2 years

  • TOTAL potential purchase price: $11.5M USD

Valuation

  • No earnout ($8.5M)...

  • 2024 Revenue: 0.7x

  • 2024 EBITDA: NA

  • PF 2025E Revenue: 0.6x

  • PF 2025E EBITDA: 7.1x

  • Incl earnous ($11.5M)...

  • 2024 Revenue: 0.9x

  • 2024 EBITDA: NA

  • PF 2025E Revenue: 0.8x

  • PF 2025E EBITDA: 9.6x

Strategic Rationale

  • Click adds 75 gaming creators to GameSquare's existing FaZe Clan roster, strengthening position in creator economy gaming

  • Click’s Australia and US presence complements GameSquare's North American focus, and extends GameSquare’s lifestyle and gaming marketing capabilities

  • Twitch and Facebook Gaming Creator Service Provider (CSP) status offers new platform support and service for GameSquare

  • Combining Click’s talent management with GameSquare’s tech and media assets enhances full funnel campaign execution and operational scalability

Post-Deal Operations

  • Click integrated into GameSquare's media and agency business alongside Zoned Gaming

  • Founders Grace Watkins and Emma Barnes retain Co-CEO roles and help with integration

  • With acquisition, GameSquare projects H2 2025 pro-forma revenue of $36.8M and adjusted EBITDA of $2.9M 

  • Part of GameSquare’s broader simplification strategy by integrating Click Management’s talent management services, while streamlining operations by merging Sideqik into Stream Hatchet and divesting Frankly Media


 –WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING–

  • 2025 has seen active M&A consolidation of talent, influencer, and marketing agencies in Australia.

  • In addition to the GameSquare / Click deal we discussed above, I also think of Launchd buying 2 Australia-based companies: influencer marketing agency Hoozu in July 2025, and influencer talent agency Huume in June 2025. 

  • Of note, both of the above companies were acquired from IZEA, which had previously bought the business via its 2023 acquisition of Hoozu (which owned Huume, its talent management division). Our deal analysis.

  • Further, Hoozu, under IZEA at the time, also bought Australia-based 26 Talent based in July 2024 (our deal analysis).

  • The key drivers for the Australian deal activity is to cater to APAC’s growing digital economy by establishing a foothold and / or gaining more capabilities and resources in the region. This strategy will help market players position to be the go-to influencing marketing partner for brands in APAC.

  • There’s a lot more deal activity in the broader marketing agency sector in Australia. I also think of Parc Capital-backed Merchantwise buying agencies Jaywing and Frank Digital in August 2025 (their 2nd major purchase in 2025), as well as Common Interest buying a 51% stake in global creative agency Amplify in April 2025, and Hardie Grant Media acquiring creative communications agency Keep Left in August 2025. 

  • Of note, our RockWater team is running a sell-side M&A process for an Australia-based content x talent business. DM me on LinkedIn if you want to learn more. 

  • Capital flows to talent-centric businesses are increasing in 2025.

  • From talent management and agencies, to influencer marketing and more. We’ve written about this extensively on our deal blog. 

  • For more context on what’s happening in the talent market, and specifically for digital talent management, check out our deal analysis of 3 Arts buying two talent management companies in June 2025, and our deal analysis of Propagate buying Parker Management in May 2025.

  • Here’s some good market context from our Parker Management analysis…

  • “Just last week, Whalar, a creator-focused marketing agency and media company, recently raised funding at a $400M valuation. And yesterday, Publicis announced its acquisition of influencer marketing firm Captiv8 for a reported $150M. Further, there’s been extensive PE-backed talent rep M&A, previously covered in our analysis of Carlyle’s investment into Entertainment 360, and also in Eldridge’s $13M investment into Fixated. 

  • Specifically for talent management, like the Parker Management and Nine Four deals, we count 25+ talent management transactions since 2022. 

  • Buyers have ranged from digital marketing agencies and social publishers to gaming co’s, talent agencies, and diversified entertainment co’s. This is due to the fact that management companies are still largely independent, the landscape is still very fragmented, and particularly…. the rapid-rise of digital-focused talent orgs, and their growing financial performance AND relevance to the modern media ecosystem.” 

  • Growing transparency in creator economy valuations and financial performance. 

  • I wrote about this in Dotdigital / Social Snowball analysis. It’s worth reiterating…

  • "With the growth of creator economy dealmaking, and new buyers entering the mix (including those who are publicly listed), we’re beginning to see more transparency and disclosure in deal valuations and companies’ financial performance. This is valuable since most creator economy deals over the past decade have been between private companies, or were at a smaller scale and thus considered “immaterial”, meaning public disclosure wasn’t required. 

  • But now, public companies like Publicis / WPP / Dotdigital are collectively spending billions on creator economy acquisitions, and creating much-needed public comps which offer crucial deal data points. 

  • Further, the upcoming MrBeast IPO which have required public disclosures like its S-1 filing, will hopefully provide good insights into the making of a billion-dollar creator business. I expect to see details on MrBeast’s business model, financial performance, team composition, operating structure, growth opportunities, key risks, and more. 

  • Having more public data about our industry’s operators and dealmaking will help us all navigate the growing and evolving creator x media landscape, and in turn will enable smarter investing and better-informed dealmaking. That’s a great win for our industry.”

I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for creator economy and digital / audio agencies. From buy and sell-side M&A and fundraising to market research and go-to-market planning. 

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