The long national nightmare seems to be entering a different stage: the Maryland bankruptcy court AHS approved the sale of Diamond Comics and most of its assets for sale to a general/wide population bid.
I heard about the sale from some people on the street, but the press release made it formal. It’s complete here:
Diamond Comic Distributors (“Diamond” or “Company”) today announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Maryland area (“Court”) approved a merger of Universal Distribution LLC (“Universal”) and AD Poppulum to acquire the assets of Diamond Comic Distributors. Under the agreement, Universal Studios will acquire assets from affiliate game distributors, and AD Poplum will acquire assets from Diamond Comics distributors, Diamond Book distributors, Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, Collectible Craping Authority, Collectible Crapting Authority and other related assets. Diamond UK remains separate from this sales process. The deal is about to end.
“We are pleased that the court approved the total bid for Universal and Ad Populum. Our priority in the process is to minimize interference with publishers, retailers, our staff, and comics and game fans everywhere,” said Robert Gorin, Diamond Chief Restructuring Officer. “We are confident this will provide the best results for everyone involved.”
“This expansion into the U.S. market through the acquisition of affiliate game distributors marks a critical moment for universal distribution,” said Angelo Exarhakos, president and CEO of universal distribution. “We are committed to building strong transparent partnerships and ensuring that alliances continue to act as reliable and resilient links in the supply chain.”
“From my youth, I’ve never forgotten to walk through the front door of nearby shops and find those iconic diamond comic boxes, each open to reveal my dreams and ambitions,” said Joel Weinshanker, managing director of Ad Populum. “By bringing Ad Populum’s first-class sales, marketing and distribution to the next chapter, we are extremely pleased to build on Diamond’s extraordinary legacy.”
About Diamond Comics Distributor
Founded in 1982, Diamond Comic Distributors provides a multi-channel platform for publishing, marketing and fulfillment services, coupled with its unrivalled global distribution network of retailers, publishers and suppliers. Diamond’s mission is simple: to provide our customers with the best products, prices and personalized services. Learn more at https://www.diamondcomics.com/.
About universal distribution
Universal Pictures has distributed to the Canadian Hobby store for more than 30 years to serve retailers demand for comics, collectible toys and statues, sports and non-sports cards, collectible card games and role-playing games.
About the people
AD Populum aligns the company’s strategy by leveraging its strong global retail distribution, product development and manufacturing capabilities and promotes the growth of its unique lineup of consumer products and entertainment brands. Among its brand lineup, including NECA, Kidrobot, Wizkids, Chia Pet, Rubies, Smiffys, Enesco, Graceland and more, Ad Poplum is the largest producer of popular culture merchandise and experiences, targeting everyone from Boomers to Z Gen Z Gen.
Despite a series of memorandums today, the resolution reached the resolution, including one that Alliance Entertainment tried to postpone the approval process. We will provide more details and information to see what’s going on next.
Appendix: While this may be the ultimate solution to the case, we all know what happened when the company issued a PR explosion claiming to have purchased diamonds. That was a month ago and has not stopped acting and drama since then.
That’s just the way I said: Stay tuned!
