Authors whose work was published by the bankrupt crowdfunding publisher Unbound reacted angrily online in recent days over a letter from Archna Sharma, former Unbound ceo and now ceo of Boundless, a freshly-debt free publisher that subsists on having acquired the IP assets of Unbound at deep discount in a pre-packaged bankruptcy sale. (The payment was £25,000 upfront and another £25,000 over time, which was “the only firm offer.”) In March, Sharma had promised Unbound authors that the new company would pay “all monies owed to authors by Unbound.” A round of checks was reportedly due at the end of […]
Bankruptcy
Unbound Owes More than £2M to Creditors, Who Are Unlikely to Collect
UK crowdfunding publisher Unbound, which was recently bought in a pre-packaged bankruptcy deal by a new company run by its own executives, has left debts of approximately £2.4 million, according to Printweek. Unbounded defaulted on payments to authors, freelance staff, and vendors since at least 2024. Unbound will make approximately £200,000 from the “sale,” but owes its restructuring team £134,000, leaving just £66,000 total for all creditors. Unbound will also make a small dividend, around 18p per pound, though unsecured creditors are unlikely to see any of it. The company owes 238 authors and agents a total of £657,000 total, […]
Court Approves Sale of Diamond’s Assets to Universal and Ad Populum
The US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland approved the sale of Diamond Comics’s assets to bidders Universal and Ad Populum. Subject to final closing, Universal will acquire “the assets of Alliance Game Distributors, and Ad Populum will acquire the assets of 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.” The combined price is around $57 million, far lower than the top bid entered by Alliance Entertainment, which was reportedly upwards of $72 million. The approval follows an unusual bankruptcy process […]
Alliance Is Suing Diamond Over Bankruptcy Process, Again, Now for Fraud
Alliance Entertainment is suing Diamond Comics after terminating their purchase agreement to acquire the comics company’s assets last week. Previously, they had sued after Diamond chose to sell to the backup bidders, Universal Distributors and Ad Poplum, after first agreeing to sell to Alliance, but the suit was later dropped. Alliance writes in the new suit that Diamond has refused to pay back Alliance’s $8.5 million earnest money deposit. The suit also claims that Diamond “fraudulently misrepresented” their relationship with gaming manufacturer Wizards Of The Coast (WOTC), which they write is Diamond’s largest vendor, accounting for 25% of revenue. (They reported […]
Alliance Cancels Agreement to Purchase Diamond
In the continued saga of Diamond Comics’ bankruptcy, on Thursday top bidder Alliance Entertainment terminated their purchase agreement to acquire the company’s assets, according to an SEC filing Earlier this month, Alliance had sued Diamond after the comics company chose to sell to the backup bidders, Universal Distributors and Ad Poplum, after first agreeing to sell to Alliance. Soon after, a judge approved the sale to Alliance and Alliance dropped their suit. Alliance did not specify a reason for terminating the agreement. Diamond did not announce the new purchaser, saying only that it had “pivoted to alternative, exceptionally well-known purchasers […]
Albert Whitman Files for Voluntary Bankruptcy
Children’s book publisher Albert Whitman has filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois. According to the filing, the company owes approximately $1.66 million to creditors, the largest sum being nearly $256,000 to Lakeside Book Company. For years now, going back to 2020 but also recently, there have been complaints about the publisher being delinquent on royalty payments. In 2023, Whitman sold the rights to the Boxcar Children books to Random House Children’s.