Legal Knives Drawn at Archie Comics
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In what would normally be great news for Archie Comics—a Hollywood deal to bring the Archie to the silver screen—has opened up a legal can of worms for co-CEO Jonathan Goldwater. Raven Capital Management claims that Goldwater defaulted on a loan in 2024 giving them control of the intellectual property and the deal with Universal Studios was made without their knowledge.
Oddly enough, the best reporting on this story is from the financial AI company 9fin. From 9fin:
In 2022 — a year away from the last episode of Riverdale, and two years after Netflix cancelled The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina television series, Goldwater made a giant new bet on the appetite for more Archie media and agreed to a loan he would later regret.
He signed a sprawling deal with Raven Capital, a New York-based lender specializing in asset-backed deals, that had two parts: a $40m loan to help him simplify his trust’s capital structure, ensuring he had control over the trust’s 25% stake in Archie Comics, and a second agreement more akin to a movie deal. The loan was accompanied by a personal “bad boy” guaranty from Goldwater himself, which could make him personally liable for the loan if he engaged in certain acts.
Long story short, Goldwater allegedly defaulted on the loan back by the agreed date, and Raven Capital began exercising its rights to take direct control of assets including the right to exclusive licensing. Raven Capital argues that the deal with between Goldwater and Hollywood triggered the “bad boy” guaranty and thus places Goldwater in personal financial jeapardy.
The story has many more details than described above. Read the full story over at 9fin.
Hat tip to Heidi MacDonald/The Beat.
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