The deal hinges on approval by the SEC, Delaware law (for a plan to distribute shares) and NASDAQ (for listing the spinoff on the stock market).

The timing is curious. New York's Attorney General launched a fraud probe into HMNY mere days ago to investigate claims of misleading investors -- the close association with MoviePass is creating legal trouble for the company in addition to ongoing financial problems. This isn't going to shake off those issues, but it wouldn't be surprising if HMNY saw this as a good time to distance itself from its best-known brand's tribulations.