Michael “Mike” Christensen, 52, of Boise, Idaho, is a commercial real estate broker. His brother was a senior executive at PetIQ, Inc., the Eagle, Idaho pet medication and wellness company that private equity firm Bansk Group agreed to buy in August 2024. From late June to early July of that year the two brothers were on a family holiday in Italy, and according to the Securities and Exchange Commission the executive was working on the Bansk deal throughout it. Christensen flew home on July 4. On the morning of July 5 he tried to buy PetIQ call options in a brokerage account that had not placed a trade in seven months. When the acquisition was announced on August 7, 2024, PetIQ stock rose 48 percent, and Christensen sold everything he held for a profit of about $299,000. On September 21, 2026, the SEC sued him in the District of Idaho.
The complaint charges him with violating Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, and seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest and a civil penalty. The allegations have not been tested in court. The executive is not named in the complaint and is not a defendant.
A Top Producer at Colliers
Christensen is a partner in the retail brokerage group at Colliers in Boise, according to his Colliers profile. He has worked in commercial real estate brokerage and development since 1998, representing landlords and tenants on retail development and investment. Colliers lists him as one of its top producers for seven consecutive years, and in 2019 he was inducted into its Everest Club, which recognises the top ten percent of the firm’s brokers in the United States.
The complaint does not mention his employer, and nothing in it suggests Colliers had any part in the trading. The information he traded on came from his brother at PetIQ, not from his work. What his profile does establish is that he was no novice: he had spent more than twenty-five years in deal-making and knew what a pending acquisition does to a share price.
A Deal Started While They Were in Italy
Bansk Group opened at $25.50 a share on June 2, 2024, raised to $28.50 on June 18, and began due diligence under a confidentiality agreement the executive signed on June 25.
The brothers were away together from June 22 to July 4. The executive texted his sister, who was not on the trip, that a huge deal had started while he was on vacation and it looked like a rough July for work. While still in Italy he arranged a dinner with a Bansk representative in London for July 5.
The Morning He Got Home
On the morning of July 5, 2024, Christensen placed an order for 100 PetIQ call options with a $25 strike, expiring in October, at a time when the stock traded around $22.60. The order expired unfilled. Before that morning his account had not traded for seven months and held about $58,000 in cash and no securities.
About an hour later he spoke to the executive by phone. Hours later he moved $142,000 from his bank account into the brokerage account. On July 8, once the money cleared, he spent about an hour buying 8,000 PetIQ shares for around $180,000 and bought 200 call options expiring August 16 for about $20,000. He added 400 more shares the following day. Between the two days he had used almost all the cash in the account.
He Sold When the Deal Looked Dead
The sequence in mid July is what makes the complaint difficult to explain away. On July 16, Bansk told the executive its price would be capped at $30. The executive said the board would not accept that, and for a moment it appeared the deal would not happen. That evening the brothers spoke by phone for about four and a half minutes.
The next morning Christensen sold all 8,400 of his shares, for a profit of roughly $240. Later that same day Bansk came back at $31 a share as its best and final offer, and the board agreed to negotiate on that basis.
Dinner, Then $373,800 of Stock
The executive was in Boise from at least July 28 to August 8 while the agreement was negotiated. On July 30, by which point Bansk had confirmed the deal was scheduled to be announced on August 7, the brothers spoke for about six and a half minutes and had dinner that evening with their spouses. Over July 31, August 1 and August 2 Christensen bought 5,000, 6,000 and 6,555 shares, spending about $373,800.
On August 3 the executive cancelled family plans by text, saying he was in the battle right now and it all had to get done that day. On the evening of August 4 their mother texted Christensen that they would see what the executive said by Wednesday, adding that he might be out celebrating. Eighteen minutes later the executive texted Christensen directly: watch for the headlines for Wednesday morning. That afternoon Christensen had deposited another $50,000, and on August 5 and 6 he bought 4,900 more shares for about $99,300. On August 6 he asked whether his brother was still fighting through his deal. The reply was that they would sign at 6:30 that night, and it would get done.
What a Rodeo
PetIQ and Bansk announced the agreement before the market opened on August 7, at $31 a share in an all-cash deal valued at about $1.5 billion, a premium of roughly 51 percent. The stock closed at $30.42, up from $20.57. Christensen sent the press release to his mother, who replied that it had happened. He then texted the executive’s spouse, also a PetIQ executive, calling it quite a rodeo and saying he was very proud of what the two of them had accomplished.
The same day he sold his 200 call options for about $109,100 and all 22,455 of his shares for about $682,800. The complaint says family text messages show others knew of the negotiations too.
The Second Case From the Same Deal
Christensen is the second person the SEC has charged with trading ahead of the Bansk announcement. In March 2026 the Commission charged PetIQ’s former President and Chief Operating Officer, Michael A. Smith, alleging he bought PetIQ stock in his ex-wife’s brokerage accounts and tipped a friend who bought options. Smith and his friend Douglas Dalton both pleaded guilty to securities fraud. No criminal charge against Christensen has been announced.
Conclusion
Michael Christensen spent two weeks on holiday in Italy with a brother who was negotiating the sale of his company. He came home and, the next morning, tried to buy options in an account that had sat idle for seven months, then phoned his brother and moved $142,000 into it. When the deal looked like collapsing he spoke to his brother at night and sold at breakfast. When it came back he had dinner with his brother, then bought $373,800 of stock. His mother told him to expect news by Wednesday, his brother told him to watch the headlines, and on the day it broke he texted congratulations and sold for a $299,000 profit.
