BNC seeks confirmation from YZi Labs and 10X on terminating a secret agreement affecting asset management negotiations.
Quiver AI Summary
CEA Industries Inc. (BNC) has requested that YZILabs Management Ltd. and 10X Capital Asset Management LLC confirm the termination of a secret side agreement related to their asset management agreement (AMA). This hidden agreement, which was disclosed to BNC and its shareholders months after its signing, allegedly diverts fees from 10X to YZi Labs without any defined services. BNC’s Board believes this arrangement increases costs without benefits and is seeking to improve the AMA's terms, including fees and termination provisions. However, 10X claims the secret agreement limits its ability to renegotiate without YZi Labs' consent. Although YZi Labs asserts it has unilaterally terminated the agreement, 10X is unsure of its effectiveness. The Board seeks confirmation of mutual termination to start negotiations on the AMA, with 10X expressing willingness to renegotiate terms.
Potential Positives
- The Board of Directors is actively seeking to renegotiate the Asset Management Agreement (AMA), which indicates a proactive approach to enhancing the company's financial agreements for the benefit of stockholders.
- The potential termination of the Secret Side Agreement and subsequent negotiations could lead to reduced management fees under the AMA, positively impacting the company’s cost structure.
- The company's ability to negotiate an improved AMA could provide greater flexibility in executing its treasury strategy, which is crucial for optimizing financial operations.
- The press release highlights transparency and communication with stockholders by addressing previously undisclosed agreements, enhancing trust in corporate governance.
Potential Negatives
- Involvement of a previously hidden agreement raises concerns about transparency and governance practices within the company.
- The existence of the Secret Side Agreement suggests potential misallocation of funds that could negatively impact shareholders by increasing management costs without providing benefits.
- The inability to renegotiate essential terms of the Asset Management Agreement (AMA) due to the Secret Side Agreement indicates a lack of control and flexibility in managing the company's treasury strategy.
FAQ
What is the Secret Side Agreement related to BNC and 10X?
The Secret Side Agreement diverts funds from the AMA to YZi Labs without providing defined services, increasing costs for BNC.
Why is BNC seeking to renegotiate the Asset Management Agreement?
BNC aims to renegotiate the AMA to improve terms, reduce management fees, and enhance flexibility in its treasury strategy.
What has 10X stated regarding the renegotiation of the AMA?
10X claims the Secret Side Agreement restricts its ability to renegotiate terms without YZi Labs' consent, complicating the process.
How has YZi Labs responded to the Secret Side Agreement's termination?
YZi Labs has claimed to terminate the Secret Side Agreement, but 10X disputes the effectiveness of this termination.
What steps is BNC taking following the press release?
BNC has requested confirmation of the Secret Side Agreement's termination to proceed with negotiations to amend the AMA.
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.
$BNC Insider Trading Activity
$BNC insiders have traded $BNC stock on the open market 2 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 2 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.
Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $BNC stock by insiders over the last 6 months:
- ANTHONY K MCDONALD (President) has made 2 purchases buying 7,078 shares for an estimated $59,666 and 0 sales.
To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.
$BNC Revenue
$BNC had revenues of $7.5M in Q3 2026. This is an increase of 1820.96% from the same period in the prior year.
You can track BNC financials on Quiver Quantitative's BNC stock page.
$BNC Hedge Fund Activity
We have seen 30 institutional investors add shares of $BNC stock to their portfolio, and 4 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.
Here are some of the largest recent moves:
- ALYESKA INVESTMENT GROUP, L.P. added 797,035 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $6,216,873
- VANGUARD GROUP INC added 701,053 shares (+48.5%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $4,500,760
- SABA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. added 683,174 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $5,328,757
- PANTERA CAPITAL PARTNERS LP added 613,417 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $4,784,652
- BIT CAPITAL GMBH added 467,067 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $3,643,122
- BREVAN HOWARD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP added 385,945 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $3,010,371
- CANTOR FITZGERALD, L. P. added 339,634 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $2,649,145
To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.
Full Release
Previously hidden agreement prohibits 10X from renegotiating key provisions of its Asset Management Agreement with the Company
Board of Directors intends to seek improvements to the AMA’s terms
LOUISVILLE, CO, Feb. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CEA Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: BNC) (“BNC” or the “Company”) today requests YZILabs Management Ltd. (“YZi Labs”) and 10X Capital Asset Management LLC (“10X”) to confirm that their secret side agreement (the “Secret Side Agreement”) relating to 10X’s asset management agreement with BNC (the “AMA”) has been terminated.
The Secret Side Agreement, which was partially disclosed to the Company and its stockholders four months after it was signed, diverts a portion of the fees paid to 10X under the AMA to YZi Labs in exchange for no defined services. The Board believes that the Secret Side Agreement has the effect of increasing the overall cost of the AMA to the Company and its stockholders without any commensurate benefit, and a revised AMA will provide the Company greater flexibility in the execution of its BNB-dedicated treasury strategy.
BNC’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) has been seeking to renegotiate the AMA with 10X to improve the terms for the benefit of the Company and its stockholders. In particular, the Board seeks amendments to the AMA, including its provisions concerning fees, term and termination. However, 10X has claimed that the Secret Side Agreement prevents it from renegotiating those terms without the consent of YZi Labs.
While YZi Labs purports to have unilaterally terminated the Secret Side Agreement, 10X has told the Company that it believes YZi Labs’ termination may not be effective. The Board is therefore requesting that YZi Labs and 10X each confirm their mutual termination of the Secret Side Agreement, which will then permit the Company to begin negotiations with 10X to amend the AMA. The Company has provided 10X a form of termination agreement.
10X has indicated that it is willing to terminate the Secret Side Agreement and renegotiate the AMA, including with respect to the magnitude of the management fees.
About CEA Industries Inc.
CEA Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: BNC) is a growth-oriented company that has focused on building category-leading businesses in consumer markets, including building and managing the world’s largest corporate treasury of BNB.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements.” The statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. This press release specifically contains forward-looking statements regarding BNC’s expectations or beliefs regarding (i) the possibility that the AMA will be renegotiated and the favorability of any such amendments and (ii) the reduction of fees under the AMA following termination of the Secret Side Agreement. BNC wishes to caution readers that these forward-looking statements may be affected by the risks and uncertainties in BNC’s business as well as other important factors may have affected and could in the future affect BNC’s actual results and could cause BNC’s actual results for subsequent periods to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement made by or on behalf of BNC. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, readers should consider various risk factors, which include, but are not limited to, BNC’s ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs; BNC’s ability to finance its current business and proposed future business, including the ability to finance the continued acquisition of BNB; the competitive environment of BNC’s business; and the future value and adoption of BNB. Actual future performance outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions and risks, many of which are beyond BNC’s control. In addition, these forward-looking statements and the information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by cautionary statements and risk factor disclosures contained in BNC’s filings with the SEC, including BNC’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on December 15, 2025, Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 27, 2025, and Form 10-KT filed with the SEC on July 25, 2025, each as may be amended or supplemented from time to time. Copies of BNC’s filings with the SEC are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. BNC undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this press release, except as required by law.
Important Additional Information and Where to Find It
The Company intends to file a consent revocation statement on Schedule 14A, an accompanying YELLOW consent revocation card and other relevant documents with the SEC in connection with YZi’s consent solicitation. THE COMPANY’S STOCKHOLDERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ THE COMPANY’S DEFINITIVE CONSENT REVOCATION STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO), THE ACCOMPANYING YELLOW CONSENT REVOCATION CARD AND ALL OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Stockholders may obtain free copies of the definitive consent revocation statement, an accompanying YELLOW consent revocation card, any amendments or supplements to the consent revocation statement and other documents that the Company files with the SEC at no charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies will also be available at no charge by scrolling to the “SEC Filings” section of the Company’s website at https://ceaindustries.com/investors.html .
Certain Information Regarding Participants in the Solicitation
The Company, its directors (Anthony K. McDonald, Nicholas J. Etten, Carly E. Howard, Hans Thomas and Annemarie Tierney) and certain of its executive officers (David Namdar) are deemed to be “participants” (as defined in Schedule 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) in the solicitation of consent revocations from the Company’s stockholders in connection with YZi Labs’ consent solicitation. Information about the names of the Company’s directors and officers, their respective interests in the Company, by security holdings or otherwise, and their respective compensation is set forth in the “Information about our Directors” and “Executive Officers” sections in Part III, Item 10 – Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance of the Company’s Transition Report on Form 10-KT for the transition period from January 1, 2025 to April 30, 2025 (the “Form 10-KT”), in Part III, Item 11 – Executive Compensation of the Form 10-KT, in Part III, Item 12 – Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters of the Form 10-KT and in Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 8, 2025, October 7, 2025 and November 28, 2025. Supplemental information regarding the participants’ holdings of the Company’s securities can be found in SEC filings on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 3 and Form 4. Any subsequent updates following the date hereof to the information regarding the identity of potential participants and their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be set forth in the Company’s consent revocation statement on Schedule 14A and other materials to be filed with the SEC in connection with YZi Labs’ consent solicitation, if and when they become available. These documents will be available at no charge as described above.
CEA Industries Media Inquiries:
Edelman Smithfield
[email protected]
CEA Industries Investor Relations:
[email protected]