Aero Precision and Ballistic Advantage, two firearms manufacturers, were placed into receivership in May 2026, with a court-appointed receiver managing their assets toward a sale. In August, a company the SEC classifies as a prepackaged software firm put in a cash bid of approximately $35 million for substantially all of their assets. The receiver never signed the agreement. Someone else got the companies.
The bidder was DarkPulse, Inc. To participate, it needed a deposit — about $2.77 million — that it did not have. It solved this by borrowing from five private individuals. The five loans, formalised in promissory notes dated August 8, 2026, total $2.78 million in aggregate, carry interest at 8% per annum, and mature no later than October 1, 2026. The two largest came from Douglas and Brenda Zink, who lent $1.4 million, and Loren Ellefson, who lent $1.1 million. DarkPulse wired the deposit on August 4, according to the 8-K filed with the SEC on August 20.
The terms of the notes contain a clause worth reading carefully. Repayment of principal and accrued interest is due in full by October 1 regardless of whether DarkPulse wins or loses the bid. The filing states that the proposed asset purchase agreement was not executed by the receiver and that DarkPulse has not entered into a definitive agreement. The day after DarkPulse filed the 8-K, trade publication RECOIL reported that Aero Precision, Ballistic Advantage, and two related brands had been sold to a private ownership group, as confirmed by AllOutdoor.com on August 21. DarkPulse was not named as the buyer.
The filing also disclosed a financing commitment from N Advance LLC of up to $40 million, intended to support the transaction. That commitment was conditional on DarkPulse being confirmed as the successful bidder and on the execution of definitive transaction documents — conditions that were never met, based on what the filing and subsequent trade reporting show.
DarkPulse now carries nearly $3 million in unsecured short-term debt taken on for a deal it did not win. The filing does not say where the money to repay it will come from.