An auction for the sale of Bang Energy owner VX Pharmaceuticals (VPX) has been cancelled, with US peer Monster Beverage Corp. set to complete the acquisition of the Florida-headquartered company.

According to a leaked court document on Thursday (29 June), Blast Asset Acquisition – a Monster subsidiary – was the only successful bidder for VPX’s assets, which had been due to go up for auction tomorrow (30 June).

The document, which was filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, showed the two parties had entered into an “asset purchase agreement” valuing “all or substantially all” of the assets at $362m. This figure includes a $25m deposit and assumption of assumed liabilities.

Just Drinks has approached both VPX and Monster for comment on the filing.

Bloomberg reported, however, that the deal could yet be scuppered by a US Federal Trade Commission review. The timeline for the review would put VPX at risk of liquidation because of its own precarious financial state, the publication added.

The FTC declined to comment when approached by Just Drinks.

The pending sale of VPX’s Bang Energy to rival Monster would bring a drawn-out and bitter legal tussle between the two companies to a close. VPX filed for bankruptcy in October after losing a $293m false advertising lawsuit against Monster. The Canarchy brand owner was VPX’s largest unsecured creditor.

In April, Monster won again against VPX when it was granted a permanent injunction preventing Bang Energy from marketing its drinks as containing “Super Creatine”.

The Vital Pharmaceuticals brand temporarily agreed to remove any mention of “Super Creatine” in November. “Fuel your destiny” was the replacement message on the Bang Energy cans.

Bang Energy’s struggles date back to the company’s split from distributor PepsiCo in acrimonious circumstances in 2020. The company’s outspoken CEO Jack Owoc later accused the Gatorade brand owner of “engaging in a premeditated plan to destroy" the energy drink.

Owoc said the reason for Bang Energy’s poor performance whilst distributed by PepsiCo was because the CSD giant was not committed to the brand. He believed the Rockstar brand owner’s reluctance to take a stake in the business was because it ultimately wished to destroy Bang Energy.

Owoc was himself later ousted as CEO of the company, and forced to delete comments made on social media posts by the Bang Energy brand.