Merger, Disposition and Acquisition Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Merger, Disposition and Acquisition Transactions [Abstract]

Merger, Disposition and Acquisition Transactions

4)	Merger, Disposition and Acquisition Transactions

Merger

On August 12, 2020, Eterna, Eterna LLC and the Merger Sub entered into the Merger Agreement and consummated the Merger on March 25, 2021. The Merger was accounted for as a reverse acquisition, in which Eterna LLC was deemed the acquiring company for accounting purposes. Eterna LLC, as the accounting acquirer, recorded the assets acquired and liabilities assumed of Eterna in the Merger at their fair values as of the acquisition date.

Eterna LLC was determined to be the accounting acquirer based upon the terms of the Merger and other factors including that (i) Eterna LLC members received common stock in the Merger that represented 96.35% of Eterna’s outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis, (ii) all of the directors of Eterna immediately after the Merger were designated by Eterna LLC under the terms of the Merger Agreement and (iii) existing members of Eterna LLC’s management became the management of Eterna immediately after the Merger.

At the closing of the Merger, all the outstanding membership interests of Eterna LLC converted into the right to receive an aggregate of approximately 1,999,000 shares of common stock, of which 53,000 shares were issued as compensation to Eterna LLC’s financial advisor for its services to Eterna LLC in connection with the Merger.

The purchase price of $8.2 million, which represents the consideration transferred in the Merger to stockholders of Eterna immediately before the Merger, was calculated based on the closing price of $108 per share of common stock for approximately 76,000 shares that those stockholders owned on March 25, 2021 immediately prior to the Merger because that represented a more reliable measure of the fair value of consideration transferred in the Merger.

Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total purchase price has been allocated to the acquired tangible and intangible assets and assumed liabilities of Eterna based on their estimated fair values as of March 25, 2021, the Merger closing date. Because the consideration paid by Eterna LLC in the Merger is more than the estimated fair values of Eterna’s net assets deemed to be acquired, goodwill is equal to the difference of approximately $8.6 million, which has been calculated using the fair values of the net assets of Eterna as of March 25, 2021.

The allocation of the purchase price to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities deemed to be assumed from Eterna, based on their estimated fair values as of March 25, 2021, is as follows (in thousands):

	Historical Balance Sheet of Eterna at March 25, 2021			Fair Value Adjustment to Eterna Pre-Merger Assets			Purchase Price Allocation
Cash and cash equivalents	$	148		$	-		$	148
Accounts receivable		103			-			103
Prepaid expense and other current assets		329			-			329
Property and equipment, net		1,015			-			1,015
Software development costs		1,296			(368	)		928
Customers		-			548			548
Trade name		-			299			299
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other current liabilities		(3,781	)		-			(3,781	)
Net assets acquired, excluding goodwill	$	(890	)	$	479		$	(411	)

Total consideration	$	8,178
Net assets acquired, excluding goodwill		(411	)
Goodwill	$	8,589

Eterna LLC was obligated under the Merger Agreement to have $10.0 million in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet at the effective time of the Merger. To ensure Eterna LLC had the required funds, certain beneficial holders of Eterna LLC’s Class A membership interests entered into contractual commitments to invest $10.0 million into Eterna LLC immediately prior to the closing of the Merger. During March 2021, Eterna offered its Class A unit holders an additional 5% rights offering for an additional $0.5 million to be raised by a rights offering. Eterna received funds from the rights offering between February 17, 2021 and April 5, 2021.

Disposition

On March 26, 2021, Eterna sold its rights, title and interest in and to the assets relating to the business it operated (under the name NTN Buzztime, Inc.) prior to the Merger to eGames.com in exchange for a purchase price of $2.0 million and assumption of specified liabilities relating to that business. The sale was completed in accordance with the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement. Details of the Disposition are as follows (in thousands):

Proceeds from sale:
Cash	$	132
Escrow		50
Assume advance/loans		1,700
Interest on advance/loans		68

Carrying value of assets sold:
Cash and cash equivalents		(14	)
Accounts receivable		(75	)
Prepaids and other current assets		(124	)
Property and equipment, net		(1,014	)
Software development costs		(927	)
Customers		(548	)
Trade name		(299	)
Goodwill		(8,589	)
Other assets		(103	)

Liabilities transferred upon sale:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses		113
Obligations under finance leases		17
Lease liability		26
Deferred revenue		55
Other current liabilities		149

Transaction costs		(265	)

Total loss on sale of assets	$	(9,648	)

Acquisition

On July 16, 2021, Eterna and Brooklyn Acquisition Sub, Inc. entered into the Novellus Acquisition Agreement. The Novellus Acquisition closed contemporaneously with the execution and delivery of the Novellus Acquisition Agreement. At the closing:

• Eterna acquired all of the outstanding equity interests of Novellus as the result of the merger of Brooklyn Acquisition Sub, Inc. with and into Novellus, following which, Novellus, as the surviving corporation, became Eterna’s wholly owned subsidiary and Novellus Limited became Eterna’s indirectly owned subsidiary; and

• Eterna acquired 25.0% of the total outstanding equity interests of NoveCite.

As consideration for the Novellus Acquisition, Eterna paid $22.9 million in cash and delivered approximately 351,000 shares of common stock, which under the terms of the Novellus Acquisition Agreement, were valued at a total of $102.0 million based on an agreed upon price of $290.51 per share. At the date of issuance, the fair value of the shares was approximately $58.7 million.

The Novellus Acquisition Agreement contained customary representations, warranties and certain indemnification provisions. Approximately 37,000 of the shares issued as consideration were placed in escrow to secure indemnification obligations to Eterna under the Novellus Acquisition Agreement, and all such shares were released to the sellers in July 2022. The Novellus Acquisition Agreement also contains certain non-competition and non-solicitation provisions pursuant to which Novellus LLC agreed not to engage in certain competitive activities for a period of five years following the closing, including customary restrictions relating to employees. No employees of Novellus Limited or Novellus prior to the Novellus Acquisition continued their employment, or were otherwise engaged by Eterna, immediately following the Novellus Acquisition.

In connection with the Novellus Acquisition, the co-founders of Novellus entered into lock-up agreements with respect to approximately 169,000 of the shares of common stock received in the Novellus Acquisition, and Eterna’s Chairman of the Board and its former Chief Executive Officer and President entered into identical lock-up agreements with respect to their current holdings of Eterna stock. Each lock-up agreement extends for a period of three years, provided that up to 75% of the shares of common stock subject to the lock-up agreement may be released from the lock-up restrictions earlier if the price of common stock on the Nasdaq exceeds specified thresholds. The lock-up agreements include customary exceptions for transfers during the applicable lock-up period.

The Company executed the Novellus Acquisition to advance its evolution into a platform company with a pipeline of next generation mRNA cellular and gene editing programs.

Although Eterna acquired all of the outstanding equity interests of Novellus, the Company accounted for the Novellus Acquisition as an asset acquisition (as the assets acquired did not constitute a business as defined in ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations), and was measured by the amount of cash paid and by the fair value of the shares of common stock issued. As a result, substantially all of the value acquired was attributed to IPR&D, with the exception of the cash paid for the investment in NoveCite, which is being accounted for as an investment in equity securities, as discussed further below.

Eterna paid $22.9 million in cash, net of cash acquired, as part of the consideration for the Novellus Acquisition, of which $1.0 million was paid in cash for the investment in NoveCite. Eterna also issued approximately 351,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, of which approximately 182,000 shares are unrestricted and 169,000 shares are subject to the three-year lockup. The unrestricted shares were valued at $201 per share, which was the closing price of Eterna’s common stock on July 16, 2021. The fair value of the restricted shares was discounted by approximately 35% to $130.60 per restricted share, which was derived from the average discount rate between the Black Scholes and Finnerty valuation models.The resulting fair value of the asset acquired is as follows (in thousands):

	Fair Value of Consideration
Cash paid	$	22,882
Cash acquired		(28	)
Unrestricted shares		36,628
Restricted shares		22,056
Total fair value of consideration paid		81,538
Less amount of cash paid for NoveCite investment		(1,000	)
Fair value of IPR&D acquired	$	80,538

IPR&D that is acquired through an asset purchase that has no alternative future uses and no separate economic values from its original intended purpose is expensed in the period the cost is incurred. Accordingly, the Company expensed the fair value of the IPR&D during the third quarter of 2021 in the amount of $80.5 million.

Investment in NoveCite

As a result of the Novellus Acquisition, Eterna acquired and currently owns 25% of NoveCite, and Citius Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Citius”) owns the remaining 75%. A member of the Company’s management is entitled to hold one of three board seats on NoveCite’s board of directors. Citius’ s officers and directors hold the other two board seats. The Company is accounting for its interest in NoveCite under ASC Topic 323, Investments – Equity Method and Joint Ventures. The investment was recorded at cost, which was $1.0 million, and is adjusted for the Company’s share of NoveCite’s earnings or losses, which are reflected in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The investment may also reflect an equity loss in the event that circumstances indicate an other-than-temporary impairment. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recorded approximately $0.9 million in losses from its investment in NoveCite, and, of the $0.9 million loss for year ended December 31, 2022, $0.5 million related to NoveCite’s year ended December 31, 2021. The Company does not guarantee obligations of NoveCite nor is it otherwise committed to provide financial support for NoveCite. Therefore, the Company will record losses only up to its investment carrying amount.