Monster Digital Resets Reverse Merger Deadline

Monster Digital Inc. has extended until Monday the closing date of its planned reverse merger with a North Carolina drug maker. The Simi Valley developer and distributor of action sports cameras and accessories had originally set Jan. 26 as the closing date of its transaction with Innovate Biopharmaceuticals Inc. Following the closing, Innovate will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Monster Digital, and in turn, Monster Digital as the parent will be renamed Innovate Biopharmaceuticals Inc. A spin-off company, MD Holding Co. Inc., that will include assets not assumed through the merger, will become a wholly owned subsidiary. Innovate, in Raleigh, N.C., is a research biotech that plans to use the public capital markets to finance development of its main pipeline drug to treat celiac disease. Monster faces potential delisting from the Nasdaq Capital Market for not meeting the exchange’s stockholder equity requirement. It had sought a deadline of Jan. 26 to regain compliance with the requirement. Shares of Monster (MSDI) closed Monday unchanged at 58 cents a share on the Nasdaq.