Bankrupt and defunct Registered Traveler provider Verified Identity Pass last week terminated its asset purchase agreement with a firm called Alclear and instead is pursuing a sale to another suitor, Henry Inc., court documents filed this week show.
VIP's plan to move forward with an alternate deal with investment firm Henry Inc., the second highest bidder in the bankruptcy auction process, is subject to further negotiations, VIP representatives said in court documents. "The debtor believes that it will be able to close a sale to Henry and that such sale is in the best interests of its estate and its creditors," VIP representatives noted in a court filing.
Prior to VIP's December 2009 bankruptcy filing, Henry Inc. signed a letter of intent with the Registered Traveler firm and its primary debt holder, Morgan Stanley, to purchase some "assets and liabilities" of the company, which abruptly folded last summer and took the Registered Traveler industry down with it.
However, Alclear emerged as the highest bidder in a bankruptcy court-approved auction for VIP's assets. The execution of that nearly $6 million asset purchase agreement, which was inked in late January, appeared in jeopardy late last month as Alclear cited gridlock in the bankruptcy proceeding and some adjusted terms to the original agreement as the chief obstacles for its plan to relaunch the program by the end of May
(BTNonline, April 2).