Monster Digital Shares Soar After Prospectus Filing

Monster Digital Inc. filed a preliminary proxy statement on Friday for its planned merger with a North Carolina biopharmaceutical company, sending the price of shares up more than 60 percent. The Simi Valley action and virtual reality camera maker entered into a merger agreement with Innovate Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. last month valued at $122 million. The merger will be a stock-for-stock transaction with Innovate shareholders owning about 91 percent of the combined company and Monster shareholders controlling about 9 percent. The preliminary proxy materials filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission included the merger agreement and the opinion of Benchmark Co. whether the transaction is fair to Monster shareholders. A definitive proxy statement containing information about the proposed transaction will be mailed to each Monster stockholder entitled to vote at the company’s stockholder meeting. Shares of Monster (MSDI) closed Friday up 39 cents, or more than 63 percent, to $1 on the Nasdaq.