He told the court the FTC needs to make a determination within 24 hours because Monster’s asset purchase agreement terminates if the deal doesn’t clear the agency’s review process by June 30.
“Either there’s a sale to Monster or there will be an immediate liquidation,” Sorkin said.
In April, Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan said Monster was “best-positioned to acquire” Bang, noting that in addition to being its largest creditor, it is a co-rights holder to a 5% perpetual royalty/license for the use of the Bang beverage trademark. The license rights were negotiated as payment to offset some of Bang’s court-ordered losses.
At the same time, Astrchan said Monster was challenging Bang’s ability to transfer the Bang trademark license to an acquirer, which would give Monster “near total control over Bang’s future.”
As part of the acquisition, Monster also will take control of a Bang-operated 400,000-square-foot manufacturing facility near Phoenix. It’s estimated that this plant alone would be valued at more than the total Monster will pay for Bang.
