CROSSGEN ON THE BLOCK SEPTEMBER 28th

**MattBrady** · 09-23-2004, 10:06 AM

At a hearing on Tuesday, the Middle District Bankruptcy Court approved of CrossGen’s request to proceed with the sale of its assets, with John Taddeo being the lead bidder, with an offer of $500,000 on the table. As a result of the Court’s approval, CrossGen is now able to solicit other, competing offers for the assets for a Sale Hearing on September 28th at 10:00 am. Objections to the proposed sale must be made before that time, and files with both the Court and the Trustee’s counsel.

All competing bids (following the earlier stated bidding process) must be submitted to CrossGen no later than 5:00 pm Eastern time on Septmber 27th. If competing bids are received, an auction will be held for the assets on September 28th. At the auction, CrossGen may opt to sell all the assets to one bidder, or parcel them out among a handful of bidders, depending upon which will be of greatest financial benefit to the estate. If no competing bids are received, then the assets will be sold to Taddeo.

According to the original filing, any competing bid must be a cash bid, and sufficient evidence of the bidder’s ability to consummate the purchase, as well as a $50,000 deposit must be made. Bids must be made in increments of $10,000, with the first competing bid being greater than the initial bid and the Break-Up Fee, i.e., at least $525,000.

The money generated by the sale of the assets would first go to pay off the Debtor-in-Possession financing CrossGen received from founder Mark Alessi, and then pay secured creditors (taxes, utilities, etc), and ultimatley leave nothing for unsecured creditors (freelancers, Printers, advertisers, etc).

Vyper · 09-23-2004, 10:14 AM

So what does that mean for the Abadazad case?

BlueThunderArmy · 09-23-2004, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
According to the original filing, any competing bid must be a cash bid, and sufficient evidence of the bidder’s ability to consummate the purchase, as well as a $50,000 deposit must be made. Bids must be made in increments of $10,000, with the first competing bid being greater than the initial bid and the Break-Up Fee, i.e., at least $525,000.

Meh. Think I'll save my money for Acclaim.

**MattBrady** · 09-23-2004, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vyper
So what does that mean for the Abadazad case?

Abadazad is one of the assets of CrossGen, and it will become the property of the winning bidder in the immediate future. Unclear if the legal action initiated by DeMatteis will continue and have, if the Court sides with DeMatteis, any retroactive effect after the auction.

MattB

Volunteer · 09-23-2004, 10:19 AM

I expect that to a bidder, Abadazad is only a minor concern. The outcome of that case shouldn't impact bidding too much.

I still think it's wrong that Alessi is the first creditor paid and everyone else gets nothing. He's the one who ran the company into the ground but he gets money back while all the creators hi lied to for months get nothing. That's not justice.

Volunteer

The Shadow · 09-23-2004, 11:09 AM

this is all really too bad... CrossGen was IMO great. I liked almost all the titles...

I expect Sojourn will fetch a decent price. I'm hoping Marvel gets it and then they can get Greg Land back on the book!

Ittousagi · 09-23-2004, 11:14 AM

Matt...

How would one go about making a legitimate bid on the CrossGen assets? (i.e. who do you contact, what channels are available for contact, et al.)
Given the still-relative newness of the intellectual properties involved (compared to, say, one of the big two), a CrossGen purchase could be the boost needed to break into the large-scale comic business. Now all that's required is the capital...

xpositive · 09-23-2004, 11:18 AM

I'll buy a coffee maker and the rights to Meridian.

Vyper · 09-23-2004, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by xpositive
I'll buy a coffee maker and the rights to Meridian.

Hush.

SpyGuy · 09-23-2004, 11:50 AM

Here's how I'd like to see some of the properties purchased:

KISS KISS BANG BANG -- DC, as a Wildstorm or Vertigo series
RUSE -- DC, possibly as a Vertigo series
SOJOURN -- Marvel
WAY OF THE RAT -- Dark Horse or Marvel

However things turns out, I'll be curious to see who ends up with what property...

Frank Castle · 09-23-2004, 11:50 AM

Quote:

The money generated by the sale of the assets would first go to pay off the Debtor-in-Possession financing CrossGen received from founder Mark Alessi, and then pay secured creditors (taxes, utilities, etc), and ultimatley leave nothing for unsecured creditors (freelancers, Printers, advertisers, etc).

Usually when I read "legal-ese" I can just feel my mind going into standby (screen saver goes off and everything), but in my limited understanding this means one thing:

Mark Alessi gets back some of the money he invested, everybody else gets the shaft....

Dose that sum things up?

mauer · 09-23-2004, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SpyGuy
Here's how I'd like to see some of the properties purchased:

KISS KISS BANG BANG -- DC, as a Wildstorm or Vertigo series
RUSE -- DC, possibly as a Vertigo series
SOJOURN -- Marvel
WAY OF THE RAT -- Dark Horse or Marvel

However things turns out, I'll be curious to see who ends up with what property...

Everyone seems to be assuming that they're goign to be bought piecemeal...any particular reason for that?

JK Parkin · 09-23-2004, 12:26 PM

It sounds like John Taddeo is going to get it all unless he is outbid. Who is John Taddeo?

Oh, and I should mention my birthday is this weekend. Hint, hint ...

Cliffy · 09-23-2004, 01:12 PM

All of CG that's up for sale is apparently going to be sold as a lot. Whoever buys it could then, presumably, break it up and sell individual pieces if he wants. Or not.

--Alex

stvnhthr · 09-23-2004, 01:16 PM

The big question is will Mark Alessi finally admit CrossGen is in financial trouble.

Strike · 09-23-2004, 01:24 PM

Taddeo is a 'stalking horse'. He is being paid to bid for the CG assets. He doesn't actually want them himself.

I doubt Alessi will see a penny. The IRS will see to that.

As for the final winner - it will be someone none of us expect, somebody that none of us will have even heard of.
Probably another online comics vendor, who will buy them, hoping to sell them off again.

BriGuy · 09-23-2004, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Frank Castle
Usually when I read "legal-ese" I can just feel my mind going into standby (screen saver goes off and everything), but in my limited understanding this means one thing:

Mark Alessi gets back some of the money he invested, everybody else gets the shaft....

Dose that sum things up?

He only gets back the $150,000 or so that he loaned CrossGen after it filed for bankruptcy.

Then, of course, he gets whatever he's entitled to as a secured creditor...

spiderrob8 · 09-23-2004, 01:49 PM

He gets the money back that he provided after bankruptcy to keep the company goping for awhile. If he didn't he never would have provided that money in hte first place, Crossgen would have filed a chapter 7, ultimately getting less for the properties, and having the expense of a chapter 7 trustee who would get about 10% of all money received into the estate and have his own expenses

and just because Taddeo is a stalking horse does not mean he does ot get the properties. If no one else bids, that is it. If they do, he could keep bidding, or he gets a fee for basically doing the work of being the first bid, and has to buy nothing,

Jimmy_Helter · 09-23-2004, 03:00 PM

Quote:

I'll buy a coffee maker and the rights to Meridian.

LOL!

Ryan Twombly · 09-23-2004, 04:28 PM

I have a feeling the properties will end up going as a lot. We'll probably see reprints of the most popular books and a protracted campaign by creators like DeMatteis to get back their rights.

A far more interesting but entirely tangential question is, are any of you legal types willing to help out a fledgling small press imprint?

grphxkindaguy · 09-23-2004, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vyper
Hush.

Isn't he a DC property?!?

Elayne Riggs · 09-23-2004, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Strike
Taddeo is a 'stalking horse'. He is being paid to bid for the CG assets. He doesn't actually want them himself.

I doubt Alessi will see a penny. The IRS will see to that.

I doubt any of the still-unpaid freelancers will ever see their pennies either (including my husband, owed $1300 for at least a year and a half now).

- Elayne

Derek Ruiz · 09-23-2004, 05:45 PM

I was hoping to hit the 75mil lottery on firday so i could buy crossgen with my winnings....lol

wishlish · 09-23-2004, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Elayne Riggs
I doubt any of the still-unpaid freelancers will ever see their pennies either (including my husband, owed $1300 for at least a year and a half now).

- Elayne

You know, Elayne, given how that whole mess turned out, I was surprised you didn't challenge the ownership of the material Robin inked. After the bankruptcy, can they publish that even though Robin didn't sign a contract?

Leviathan · 09-23-2004, 06:15 PM

I don't understand why anyone would want to buy properties that couldn't keep a company afloat.

A lot of the subject matter in Crossgen books truly fit into genres. Like Sojourn. Girl in Tolkien universe. If marvel or DC wanted to do a book like that, they'd just create a new character.

That way new readers who would'nt pick up the first issue because they didn't feel like hunting down Crossgen trades.

Some Crossgen stuff was pretty original though.