Diamond has submitted a motion to authorize its sale to its back-up bidders, Universal Distribution and what we thought was Ad Populum but also includes an entity Sparkle Pop LLC that seems connected to Ad Populum. The saga of Diamond’s chapter 11 bankruptcy has taken a stranger turn with the latest court motion. Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop LLC will be purchasing Diamond’s DCD Business, CGA Business, and Diamond Select Toys. Universal would seem to get Alliance Distribution out of it.

Not much comes up for Sparkle Pop LLC which was created on April 4, 2025 in Delaware. On April 5, Diamond announced that it was going with its back-up bid which included Universal and Ad Populum in a joint bid. The purchaser on the newest court document is Joel Weinshanker for both Sparkle Pop and Ad Populum. Weinshanker is the founder/owner of NECA as well as majority shareholder of Ad Populum. Ad Populum has a portfolio that includes the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA), Wizkids, Kidrobot, Rubies Costumes, Graceland and more. So it’s absolutely all connected. The question is how… but I digress.

For those keeping track, originally, Alliance Entertainment won the bid for Diamond during the bankruptcy process. Diamond then said it wanted to go with the “second best” joint bid by Universal Distribution and Ad Populum, then Alliance threatened to sue, and Alliance won the final approval. Then… in a shocking twist Alliance said it was not going through with the bid. We found out that was because Diamond had withheld key information from Alliance during the process. After Alliance’s pull of its bid, Diamond released a statement that they had other partners and we speculated it was the back-up bid and it looks like that’s the case.

When Diamond was informed of Alliance’s decision to not go through the sale, Diamond pivoted and finalized updated asset purchase agreements with Universal and Ad Populum.

Diamond is now looking for the court’s approval of this move. It seems like the purchase amount from Universal is now $42 million minus the “Average Net Working Capital,” plus the “Inventory acquired on the Closing Date,” plus the “Accounts Receivables acquired on the Closing Date,” minus “accounts payable due to Critical Vendors on the Closing Date,” and minus “any amounts paid by Purchaser as Cure Amounts and the assumption by Purchaser of the Assumed Liabilities.” So… math.

The purchase price by Ad Populum/Sparkle Pop LLC is “$7,459,050 U.S. Dollars, less any Critical Vendor payment owed by Sellers under the Asset Purchase Agreement submitted by Universal and any amounts owed by Sellers to NECA, LLC, Wizkids/NECA, LLC or to its Affiliates, but solely to the extent such payment is not made by or on behalf of Universal (the “Base Purchase Price”), (ii) plus, the Incentive Amount, if any; (iii) minus, accounts payable due to Critical Vendors on the Closing Date; and (iv) minus, any amounts paid byp urchaser as Cure Amounts with respect to the Acquired Business, excluding Cure Amounts in connection with Additional Assigned Contracts (collectively, the “Purchase Price”), and the assumption by Purchaser of the Assumed Liabilities.”

Diamond also asked to shorten the time for any decisions with the company wanting a hearing on April 30, 2025. You can read the motion by Diamond below as well as its agreements with Universal and Ad Populum. It’s unknown if Universal/Ad Populum were aware of the issues that Alliance came across. There’s still a lot of questions and things definitely don’t pass the smell test, but we’ll see how this drama continues to unfold.