A group including some of the original investors in a bankrupt nutrition company is quietly trying to bring it back to life.
BOA Nutrition was a Raleigh company specializing in oral aerosol sports energy supplements, products that targeted high performance athletes and fitness enthusiasts. It filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December, and next month its assets face an auction block.
But one approved purchaser has already made itself known, an entity called BOA Refinance Corp, described by attorneys as a group made up of a few of the original investors in BOA Nutrition who believe in the technology enough to take another bet.
Kelley WIlliams Jr. of Greenover Group, one of BOA's investors, is listed as its manager in business registration filings. Neither he, nor his attorney, responded to multiple requests for comment. But those close to the situation say the group is confident the products BOA was producing can make a comeback, even with the shadow of a bankruptcy filing looming in the background.
Robert Tramantano, principal at Great Neck Realty, which is conducting the auction, said there has been other interest outside of BOA Refinance.
He said that while firms ending in Chapter 7 don’t always convey a positive message to the market place, “there is a great deal of potential” with BOA. Tramantano said the firm may not have had a fair shake, as it launched signature products after a global pandemic. He said the aerosol products are what potential buyers are interested in as the auction approaches.
John Bircher, bankruptcy trustee, described BOA Refinance at a hearing last month as a group previously affiliated with the bankrupt firm, with “interest in reviving the company under different circumstances.”
“So we decided the best way to do that was to do it sort of as a public auction,” Bircher told the court.
“That seemed like, based on our research and based on our understanding of the product to be a good starting point … we felt like that was the best interest of the creditors in the case,” Bircher said.
BOA Refinance has submitted a $400,000 bid, and if other entities want to beat it, they need to submit their own offers of at least $425,000 by May 10, filings with the bankruptcy court show.
The investors making up BOA Refinance hold a secured claim of more than $185,000, according to filings.
Bircher said there is no credit bidding opportunity as part of BOA Refinance’s stalking horse offer, “because I wanted to have as level a playing field as we could and I also wanted to make sure they were going to put their money where their mouth was.”
From high hopes to liquidation
BOA’s technology was developed at Duke University and spearheaded by Hank Durschlag, who did not return requests to comment for this story.
According to the company, its two-second aerosol spray delivered as much sodium as a 12 ounce sports drink. Former CEO Jon Pritchett told Triangle Business Journal last year that BOA was trying to break out of endurance sports into a broader consumer base by experimenting with energy and sleep products.
Pritchett also did not return requests to comment for this story.
BOA's charter investors included Martin Rennie, former head coach of the Carolina Railhawks; Rod Walters, president of sports medicine consultant Walters Inc.; Eric Gibson, CMO of Golf Pride in Pinehurst; Alston Gardner of DGI Capital; and Jay Harrison, a former Carolina Hurricanes player.
The backers also included big-name entrepreneurs such as former BioAgilytix CEO Jim Datin and former Carolina Panthers co-owner and president Mark Richardson, according to the company. They also included local entrepreneurs such as UNC professor-turned-astronaut Jim Kitchen, who held more than 5 percent of the company, and local entrepreneurship attorney Merrill Mason of Smith Anderson, who had just under a percent. Will Pleasants, managing director, U.S., of Wasserman, owned just over 0.6 percent, according to the petition.
The company, bankruptcy filings show, raised nearly $6.2 million from equity investors altogether.
But it still struggled to find traction.
Through August of 2023 it had inked revenue for the year of just over $96,000. That’s as expenses incurred in 2023 racked up to nearly $1.4 million, “depleting all the venture capital and leaving the Debtor unable to meet its current financial obligations,” a filing from February reads.
BOA Nutrition tried to turn things around, going after name, image and likeness deals with notable athletes such as All American forward of Armando Bacot of North Carolina and Duke star Jeremy Roach.
But by the time it filed for liquidation last year, it had more than 50 creditors and less than $500,000 in assets. That’s as identified debts added up to more than $2.7 million.