A customer rents a van from Fluid Truck. (Courtesy Fluid Truck)
Weeks after going bankrupt, local startup Fluid Truck is asking a federal judge to allow its sale to a Utah company in a deal that it values at an estimated $10 million.
On Oct. 30, Fluid signed an asset purchase agreement with Kingbee Rentals, after the boards of both companies voted to approve that agreement. The sale is now subject to court approval or, if there are higher offers than Kingbee’s, an auction to be held in mid-December.
In bankruptcy documents filed last week, Fluid’s lawyers detailed how it “worked in the months leading up” to its mid-October bankruptcy “on parallel paths to raise capital and identify parties with an interest in purchasing its assets.” But only Kingbee’s offer was viable.
“The debtors have determined that, in light of their financial situation and liquidity needs, a more viable alternative to a sale of the assets does not exist,” they explained on Oct. 31.
Fluid’s agreement with Kingbee does not list a sales price. Instead, the buyer will assume some of Fluid’s debt, including money Kingbee loaned it, and $1.4 million in insurance costs. Fluid told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Goldblatt that the deal has “over $10 million in value.”
The sale agreement said that Kingbee plans to enter into new contracts with participants in the Fluid Vehicle Investor Platform, or FVIP, which allows people to buy fleets of vehicles, rent them out through Fluid, and sell them through Fluid when they get old. Fluid owes at least $11 million to FVIP members, one of whom is suing the company for theft and fraud.
Fluid has vowed to continue marketing its assets, in case a better buyer emerges. Fluid’s investment banker has reached out to 120 potential buyers and seven have signed non-disclosure agreements in order to learn more, according to Fluid’s lawyers.
Critics of the sale to Kingbee have until early December to object and until Dec. 9 to bid higher than Kingbee. A bidder must offer at least $250,000 more in order to be successful.
Fluid lost $18.7 million in fiscal year 2022 and $20.6 million in 2023, according to an Oct. 16 affidavit from interim CEO Scott Avila. Then, $15 million in financing fell through this year.
The company acknowledges owing at least $50 million to more than 1,000 creditors but hasn’t provided exact numbers. A list of creditors filed Monday was sealed by Judge Goldblatt.
The company was founded in Denver in 2016 as Fluid Market, an Uber-for-everything app that allowed users to rent a vast assortment of household items and vehicles. By 2018, it had become Fluid Truck and focused exclusively on vehicle rentals. It later expanded to other major cities and partnered with Ikea. It has raised at least $80 million from investors.
A customer rents a van from Fluid Truck. (Courtesy Fluid Truck)
Weeks after going bankrupt, local startup Fluid Truck is asking a federal judge to allow its sale to a Utah company in a deal that it values at an estimated $10 million.
On Oct. 30, Fluid signed an asset purchase agreement with Kingbee Rentals, after the boards of both companies voted to approve that agreement. The sale is now subject to court approval or, if there are higher offers than Kingbee’s, an auction to be held in mid-December.
In bankruptcy documents filed last week, Fluid’s lawyers detailed how it “worked in the months leading up” to its mid-October bankruptcy “on parallel paths to raise capital and identify parties with an interest in purchasing its assets.” But only Kingbee’s offer was viable.
“The debtors have determined that, in light of their financial situation and liquidity needs, a more viable alternative to a sale of the assets does not exist,” they explained on Oct. 31.
Fluid’s agreement with Kingbee does not list a sales price. Instead, the buyer will assume some of Fluid’s debt, including money Kingbee loaned it, and $1.4 million in insurance costs. Fluid told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Goldblatt that the deal has “over $10 million in value.”
The sale agreement said that Kingbee plans to enter into new contracts with participants in the Fluid Vehicle Investor Platform, or FVIP, which allows people to buy fleets of vehicles, rent them out through Fluid, and sell them through Fluid when they get old. Fluid owes at least $11 million to FVIP members, one of whom is suing the company for theft and fraud.
Fluid has vowed to continue marketing its assets, in case a better buyer emerges. Fluid’s investment banker has reached out to 120 potential buyers and seven have signed non-disclosure agreements in order to learn more, according to Fluid’s lawyers.
Critics of the sale to Kingbee have until early December to object and until Dec. 9 to bid higher than Kingbee. A bidder must offer at least $250,000 more in order to be successful.
Fluid lost $18.7 million in fiscal year 2022 and $20.6 million in 2023, according to an Oct. 16 affidavit from interim CEO Scott Avila. Then, $15 million in financing fell through this year.
The company acknowledges owing at least $50 million to more than 1,000 creditors but hasn’t provided exact numbers. A list of creditors filed Monday was sealed by Judge Goldblatt.
The company was founded in Denver in 2016 as Fluid Market, an Uber-for-everything app that allowed users to rent a vast assortment of household items and vehicles. By 2018, it had become Fluid Truck and focused exclusively on vehicle rentals. It later expanded to other major cities and partnered with Ikea. It has raised at least $80 million from investors.
