Alliance Entertainment Buys Diamond Comic Distributors

A New Alliance For US Comics

Over at Bleeding Cool and icv2, they have just revealed that Alliance Entertainment, which is a global distributor and wholesaler specialising in music, movies, video games, electronics, arcades, and collectables, has been selected as the winning bidder to acquire substantially all of the assets of Diamond Comic Distributors after Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings…

It’s been a very convoluted story that first broke back in January of this year when Diamond Comic Distributors US announced that they had instituted Chapter 11 proceedings to give the company time to reorganise and get on top of their very sizeable debts.

Packaged media, video game, and merch distributor Alliance Entertainment has submitted the winning bid to acquire substantially all of the assets of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. in the bankruptcy auction, including Diamond Comic Distributors, Alliance Game Distributors, Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles, and Collectible Grading Authority, the company announced today.

Here’s  part of Alliance’s CEO Jeff Walker’s statement on the acquisition:

“This is a transformative opportunity to expand our leadership in the world of gaming and physical collectibles and deepen our reach into thriving fan-driven categories…With their legacy of exclusive titles, deep retail relationships, and strong presence in comics, tabletop games, and collectible merchandise, these businesses are highly complementary to our existing distribution and fulfillment model.  We see powerful cross-selling potential between our product lines and customer bases, expanding the reach of our expanded product portfolio across both mass retail and specialty channels.”

Alliance Entertainment will finance the acquisition through an expansion of its existing $120 million revolving credit facility, which it expects to increase to $160 million.

More news when we have it but it is an interesting and constantly evolving story.