It’s a wild weekend for comics industry viewers. As revealed late Friday, Alliance Entertainment, which was previously approved as buyers of most diamond comics assets in the bankruptcy auction, abruptly terminated the agreement. Although no details were revealed, a letter from Diamond’s publisher said the business would continue as usual, as it was throughout the process.
Later that day, Diamond issued a formal statement through BusinessWire (H/T Graphics Policy), and the tone was….upbeat?
Diamond Comic distributor (“Diamond” or “Company”) today announced that it will no longer move forward in the transaction process of Alliance Entertainment.
“Diamond Comics distributors have Privy-seen alongside alternative, unusually well-known buyers who are pleased to work with us. These companies have a strong balance sheet and, importantly, unrivalled presence and experience in our core industries,” said Robert Gorin, Diamond Chief Restructuring Officer. “We are entering a purchase agreement with these third parties and hope to announce the identity of these buyers and seek court approval soon to complete the sales transaction.”
As you read this article, it may reveal the identities of these “alternative, unusually well-known buyers”. Think of it as a party to gender revelation, but it is a revelation of a bankrupt asset purchase agreement.
Of course, “unparalleled presence and experience in our core industry” sounds promising, perhaps some shadow of the infamous interview with the executives of the alliance. While you can’t read too much about the statements in this summary, after all the twists and turns in this story, it seems a bit of the background “complete the story in our terms”.
Given the debris tone in this statement, one would suspect that the buyer is a common distribution/advertising group. Given all we have learned over the past six months, it seems that diamonds have been wanting to sell to Universal, and Universal CEO Angelo Exarhakos In the past, it was talked about expanding to the United States. Over the past few months, everyone I’ve spoken to has informed people of speculation that Universal Pictures is buying diamond assets, and there are even rumors that Exarhakos is attending a conference at Comicspro.
Otherwise it might be the biggest turn of all.
But no matter who the buyer is, it is still not that simple. Several creditors, including Image Comics, Titan Publishing and Pokemon Company, filed various objections to the settlement process. It seems that the inventory that is housed on the diamond is still a problem, with Pokemon asking it back early, Titans and Images worried that the inventory will be sold to new owners, even if it is sold under the goods, the contract includes bankruptcy terms. The diamond is attributed to its unsecured creditors, which is a $51 million issue.
Another giant monkey wrench in all this is the tariffs, these tariffs. Alliance Games (Games Distrience Mart) was a profitable business when Diamond filed for bankruptcy on January 14. Thanks to tariffs, the gaming industry is now in trouble with uncertainty. The toy business is even more grim, with 46% of small toy companies saying they may soon go bankrupt due to a 145% markup increase for Chinese-made toys. By contrast, suddenly, the comics business looks almost stable. Welcome to this wonderful and chaotic world.
Although you may have revealed the more clarity of Diamond’s new but exciting buyers as you read this article, it does seem clearer now: According to Alliance APA, the agreement can be terminated with “mutual, written consent from the buyer and seller”, and it seems that this is indeed a termination. Diamond has done everything he can to sell it to the league, and it is not a good idea to finally decide that.
By the way, while we all make a big deal about it and wonder what happened, maybe we’ll get some ideas tonight! Pure opportunity, tonight will be held with BOOM EIC entitled “The Future of Comics Release” Andy SchmidtPrana’s Atom Freemancreator/publisher Charlie Stickney,sweet Kenny Meyers and Single pole LibraryPass discussing the matter. You need a ticket and it’s almost sold out, so hurry up! I have mine and will report these studies. If the group members are lucky, there will be no news breaking out when they speak.
