It looks like Diamond is moving ever closer to having a new owner, and — surprise! — it’s not the top bidder in their bankruptcy auction.
Alliance Entertainment, “a global distributor and wholesaler specializing in music, movies, video games, electronics, arcades, and collectibles,” won the auction, which led to a bunch of drama that I’ll recount below. But after all sorts of shenanigans — is that a legal term? — the bid from Universal Distribution LLC and holding company Ad Populum has been approved by the court.
Under the agreement, Universal will acquire Alliance Game Distributors (a different company than Alliance Entertainment; things haven’t gotten that weird), and Ad Populum will acquire Diamond Comic Distributors, Diamond Book Distributors, Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, Collectible Grading Authority and “other related assets.” Diamond UK remains separate from this sale process, and the transaction is subject to final closing.
The press release had quotes from all three entities, with Joel Weinshanker, managing director of Ad Populum, winning with the best one:
“Ever since I was young, I’ll never forget walking through the front door of my neighborhood shop and spotting those iconic Diamond Comic boxes, each one opening to reveal my dreams and ambitions,” said Joel Weinshanker, managing director of Ad Populum. “We’re incredibly excited to build on Diamond’s remarkable legacy by bringing Ad Populum’s best-in-class sales, marketing, and distribution to the next chapter.”
So who are these guys? Universal is mostly known as a Canadian distributor, serving hobby stores for more than 30 years up north. Back in 2021 they began distributing DC’s books, not just in Canada but everywhere else, too.
Ad Populum, meanwhile, is a holding company that owns several brands, including WizKids, NECA and Kidrobot, but also Department 56, who make Snowbabies, and Graceland, aka the House of Elvis. They’re buying the majority of Diamond’s businesses, including the comics distribution business.
So how did we get here? Let’s go backwards …
In January, Diamond announced they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This means they filed for protection from those they were indebted to so they could reorganize their business, keeping them operational as they attempted to pay back their creditors. Diamond was clear from the start that they intended to sell off their assets to pay back those they owed money, a list that includes Oni Press, DSTLRY, Dark Horse Comics and other publishers; United Parcel Service; US Customs & Borders; Wizards of the Coast LLC; and even creators like Chip Zdarsky.
So, off to auction we go, with The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald trying to get into the auction but not being allowed to enter. Her account was fun to read, though, and she also has a full list of everything that was up for auction. This auction happened in late March, and was soon followed by an announcement that Alliance Entertainment was the top bidder for several of Diamond’s businesses.
I should also note here that after Diamond announced their bankruptcy in January, we saw a lot of movement from publishers looking to find alternate ways to distribute their comics — with many landing at the two entities who entered comics distribution during the pandemic, Lunar Distribution and Penguin Random House.
Now, before January got here, most of the larger publishers who had exclusive deals with Diamond for many, many years had already moved elsewhere; DC got the ball rolling by moving to the newly formed Lunar Distribution (and the short-lived UCS), which eventually picked up Image Comics and several other publishers, while Marvel, IDW, Dark Horse Comics and BOOM! Studios all landed at PRH. Since January, we’ve seen publishers like Archie Comics, Titan, Mad Cave and more move to Lunar, while DSTLRY went to PHR. Others, like Vault, have announced a direct-to-retailers wholesale program, while Alien Books, who publish the Valiant line, formed a distribution partnership with IDW. I think the only major publisher we haven’t heard from, in terms of a new deal, is Dynamite.
Anyway, back to the drama … shortly after Alliance announced their winning bid, rumors started circulating that Diamond was going to go with the second-place bid from Universal Distribution and Ad Populum. Alliance submitted a complaint, saying that Diamond ran an unfair auction, and things went back and forth, with more lawsuits and more commentary from Diamond that they were going with the No. 2 bid. A few days ago, Alliance filed to terminate their bid and filed a lawsuit against Diamond and several other parties stating that Diamond had hidden the fact that their agreement with Magic the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons owners Wizards of the Coast was set to expire, um, today. You can see why that would be something you’d want to know. Diamond followed Alliance’s termination announcement with a short press release that they had “alternative, exceptionally well-known purchasers” they would work with, which probably sparked more rumors that Todd McFarlane was buying Diamond, but alas, the creator of Spawn isn’t involved.
And here we are. No date was revealed for when “final closing” will happen, so we’re not done yet, but it would be great if they could wrap it all up before Free Comic Book Day this Saturday. Also, there’s been no mention of who gets FCBD, which is a bit distressing for me. Let’s hope it lands at a good home.