A notice was filed identifying the winning bidder in the auction for Diamond's assets, including Alliance Game Distributors, as Alliance Entertainment (see "Alliance to Acquire"). The notice also identified a joint back-up bid, from Universal Distribution, LLC, which had submitted a stalking horse bid prior to the bankruptcy filing, and NECA and WizKids parent Ad Populum, LLC.
Diamond said that the parties were working to finalize the Asset Purchase Agreement with Alliance, and would file before the hearing to approve the sale, which is scheduled for Thursday morning at 10 ET, only a few hours away as this is posted.
The notice also included a list of about 50 contracts to be assigned as part of the agreement. The product suppliers listed are almost all game companies supplying Alliance Game Distributors. A number of Diamond Select Toys licensing contracts are also listed. What's absent are comic suppliers; the only two comic-related contracts we spotted were with Comic-Con 2025 (for the booth at this year’s show), and VIZ Media.
A clue to the absence of comic suppliers on the list of contracts to be assigned can be found in a Wednesday Image Comics filing, in which it objected to its inclusion in an earlier list of contracts that potentially could be assigned to a bidder. In Image's objection, it argued that its contract with Diamond cannot be assigned because it’s an agency agreement, and Maryland law, which governs the contract, prohibits the assignment of an agency relationship without the consent of the company being represented.
While there could be any number of reasons for the absence of comic companies in the contracts to be assigned, it's possible that it’s because Diamond’s distribution agreements with comic suppliers were, in general, agency agreements that are not assignable. If that's the case and Alliance Entertainment wants to do business with Diamond's comic suppliers, it will have to get individual consents or negotiate new agreements.
And last, Diamond responded to the bankruptcy trustee’s objections to its plans for employee bonuses, and to Diamond's request that information about the employee compensation involved be redacted from public documents (see "Trustee Objects to Employee Bonuses"). This issue is also due to be resolved at Thursday's hearing.
