17 hours Ago By Lorraine Mirabella
Diamond Comic Distributors, a Baltimore institution that grew into the nation’s largest comic distributor before filing for bankruptcy, has a buyer.Alliance Entertainment Holding Corp. a Plantation, Florida,-based wholesaler specializing in music, movies, video games, electronics, arcades and collectibles, said Tuesday it was chosen as the winning bidder at a New York bankruptcy auction.
Hunt Valley-based Diamond, which supplies stores with Marvel Comics and Star Wars statues, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.The proposed sale is subject to court approval and includes Diamond and divisions Alliance Game Distributors, Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles and Collectible Grading Authority. The 42-year-old Hunt Valley company started as a basement comic book shop and became a top distributor of comic books, tabletop games and pop-culture merchandise, part of a $50 billion industry.
The buyer said the company’s assets are expected to generate more than $200 million in revenue and more than $10 million in earnings, before interest, taxes and depreciation, in fiscal year 2026.“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,” Jeff Walker, CEO of Alliance Entertainment, said in a news release.Representatives of Diamond could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Walker described Diamond as “highly complementary” to Alliance because of Diamond’s exclusive titles, deep retail relationships and strong presence in comics, tabletop games and collectibles. Alliance is described as a leader in the fast-growing tabletop games sector, offering thousands of products to independent hobby retailers. The company also has partnerships with more than 150 publishers of card games, board games and role-playing games.
“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,” Walker said.Bruce Ogilvie, Alliance’s executive chairman, said Diamond’s employees would become part of Alliance. Diamond had notified the Maryland Department of Labor that it would need to lay off 168 people if the business is not sold.
“These are passionate professionals who have built deep relationships across the fandom, hobby, and collectibles communities,” Ogilvie said. “We look forward to supporting them, learning from them, and investing in their success.”Diamond has struggled since 2019 and during the COVID-19 pandemic amid sales declines of comic books and graphic novels to Walmart, Amazon, bookstores and specialty shops, which make up nearly 60% of revenue, Robert Gorin, Diamond’s chief restructuring officer, said in a court filing.
Diamond lost an exclusive distribution agreement with two major comic publishers and faced higher interest rates on debt and higher wage and freight costs because of rising inflation, Gorin said.Diamond’s businesses sell to more than 5,000 stores, including independent comic and game stores, specialty retailers, mass-market chains and websites. The company has relationships with brands such as Marvel, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon Trading Card Game and Dark Horse Comics.
As a new owner, Alliance said it would expect to work with existing suppliers, creators, and publishing partners.Alliance expects the proposed acquisition to extend its product portfolio as well as its market coverage.It expects to finance the sale through an anticipated increase of its existing $120 million revolving credit facility to $160 million.
The sale is expected to close in April, subject to final bankruptcy court approval.The case, filed in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore, lists between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors, liabilities of $50 million to $100 million, and assets in the same range. The company estimates it owed about $40 million in trade debt to vendors and other parties as of the end of last year. Big creditors include Penguin Random House, Disney Consumer Products, Hasbro, Simon & Schuster Inc.
and others.Steve Geppi, the founder of Geppi Family Enterprises, Diamond’s parent, began collecting comic books as a child and opened one of the area’s first comic book stores, Geppi’s Comic World, in the basement of an Edmondson Avenue house in 1974.In 1982, Geppi, a native of Baltimore’s Little Italy, founded Diamond Comic Distributors with one warehouse and 17 retail customers.
In 2020, Geppi stepped in to reassume the role of president, adding to his roles at the time as the firm’s chairman and CEO.Have a news tip? Contact Lorraine Mirabella at [email protected], (410) 332-6672 and @lmirabella on X.
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