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Marvel sues Toy Biz team
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October 30, 1997: 5:46 p.m. ET
Icahn says Perelman, others to blame for Marvel's financial collapse
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In the latest chapter in their long-running dispute, Carl Icahn has filed a lawsuit alleging Ronald Perelman and his partners were responsible for the financial collapse of Marvel Entertainment Group.
According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday, the comic book company claims Perelman conducted an "alleged improper and collusive scheme."
The filing comes three weeks after Icahn -- who won control of Marvel in June -- was unable to convince at least two-thirds of its lenders to vote in favor of a proposed settlement, which would have allowed Marvel to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
Marvel negotiated for weeks with lead banker, Chase Manhattan Bank, to hammer out the details of the plan. But, an 11th-hour offer from Toy Biz to merge the two companies was said to have scuttled the proposed settlement.
In addition to Perelman, the lawsuit names Chase Manhattan; two principal shareholders of Toy Biz (Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter); and New York-based fund manager Mark Dickstein of Dickstein Partners.
"While we did not want to resort to litigation, we felt that it was imperative that we stop Toy Biz's improper actions," Icahn said in a statement.
Officials at Toy Biz characterized the suit as "an act of desperation".
In a filing in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., Marvel said it is seeking to take control of its exclusive toy licensee, Toy Biz Inc. as well as subordinate its lenders' claims and assess unspecified monetary damages against Perelman and others.
In addition, Marvel (which claims to control 78 percent of Toy Biz) filed motions seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the purported the toy company from taking any further action.
Separately, Icahn is seeking to transfer Marvel's bankruptcy case to District Court. Marvel filed for Chapter 11 protection in December 1996 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Marvel said the lawsuit is critical to its efforts to save the company from liquidation.
Marvel is the number one comic book publisher in North America with over 3,500 characters including "Spider-Man" and "The Incredible Hulk."
-- by staff writer Robert Liu
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Marvel Comics
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