Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: diamond, Diamond UK

Diamond Comics Sells Diamond UK For Over $2 Million To… Diamond UK

Diamond Comic Distributors sells Diamond UK for over $2 million... to... Diamond UK

Published Thu, 24 Jul 2025 09:57:04 -0500

As seen in court filings, Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., the Debtors in the Diamond Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, has announced that they intend to sell Diamond UK to the management of Diamond UK for just over two million dollars. They seek court authorisation to sell the shares they own in the two bodies Comic Exporters Inc. and Comic Holdings Inc. which owns diamond US's shares in Diamond UK, to a new company Diamond Distributors UK, Ltd, an entity formed and owned by certain members of the current UK-based management team of Diamond UK, free and clear of all liens.

Diamond UK was one of the still-profitable sides of Diamond Comic Distributors, and was part of the Universal Distribution stalking bid to buy Diamond. When that was split between Universal and As Populum after the bankruptcy auction and subsequent court cases, it was stated that Universal would buy Diamond UK separately, and not part of the auction. I understand that subsequently, there has been a lot of debate over who owns what at Diamond UK, and it may not be as simple. So instead, the Debtors are selling their shares in Diamond UK to… itself, basically, The people who have been running Diamond UK for decades, since Diamond bought it from Titan. And they can deal with it all.

The paperwork states that "Neither Alliance's bid nor Universal's and Ad Populum's combined back-up bid contemplated the purchase of the Shares of Diamond UK", though other recently released court transcript has Alliance Entertainment or AENT state that Diamond UK was included in their bid. More on that to come. And that the sale to Universal and Ad Populum, "excluding the Shares of Diamond UK. The financial firm running the bankruptcy, Raymond James, states that they "solicited interest from potential purchasers for the assets and/or for the Shares in Diamond UK. Ultimately, the Purchaser submitted a comprehensive proposal for purchasing the Shares that was the highest and best proposal received. The Debtors engaged in extensive, arm's-length negotiations with the Purchaser to ensure that the transaction maximized the value of Diamond UK, which resulted in… the heavily-negotiated purchase price of $2,100,000."

"The Purchaser is an entity formed by certain members of the UK-.based management team of Diamond UK, and therefore is an insider of the Debtors as that term is defined in section 101(31) of the Bankruptcy Code. None of the Debtors' officers or directors are part of the ownership group of the newly-formed entity. At all relevant times, the Purchaser has been represented by separate counsel, and negotiations resulting in entry into the SPA have been conducted at arm's length and in good faith by the Debtors through the Debtors' advisors." The new Diamond Distributors UK has already submitted a $200,000 deposit

So what does this mean for customers and vendors of Diamond UK? Well, separate from Diamond US, and demonstrably a solid and reliable business, this should mean good things. A move slowly back towards normality for British and associated comic book stores and readers. And maybe some more deals with Penguin, Lunar, Universal and others on the way. I really must buy Diamond UK's Mike Holman a pint at the next MCM and see what's what. That is, of course, if it is all approved by the courts.