Spider-Man is about to discover that even a superhero needs a good accountant and corporate lawyers to get out of a jam.
Marvel Entertainment Corp., publisher of Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America comics and Fleer sports trading cards, yesterday filed for bankruptcy-court protection in Wilmington.
Former Philadelphia financier Ronald O. Perelman, who controls 80 percent of Marvel, said he planned to put $525 million into the New York company.
In the bankruptcy filing, Perelman said he planned to improve Marvel by developing new television programs and films, theme restaurants, software and new initiatives for its Fleer/SkyBox trading-card business.
In addition, Marvel said it would fold Toy Biz, a profitable toymaker that it already owns part of, into Marvel to shore up its lagging comic and trading-card businesses with cash.
``This is a voluntary action. There will be no layoffs. This will be very much business as usual,'' said William H. Hardie, executive vice president of Fleer, which has 125 workers at its Mount Laurel headquarters.
In the first three quarters of 1996, Marvel sales were $580.6 million, down from $597.7 million in the same period last year. In five of the last six quarters, it has lost money.
Marvel has blamed its problems on a shrinking market for comic books and less interest in trading cards as fans become disenchanted with labor conflicts in professional sports.
Perelman's reorganization plan calls for his New York investment company, Andrews Group Inc., to pay $365 million for new shares of Marvel with cash or shares of Toy Biz Inc., which would become a unit of Marvel.
Marvel already owns 26 percent of Toy Biz, which is based in New York and makes action figures and other toys, based on Marvel characters.
That plan, however, would dilute the value of Marvel stock, and 80 percent of Marvel's stock stands as collateral for $900 million in bonds issued by Marvel holding companies.
Under the bankruptcy proposal, Andrews will pay about 85 cents for each new Marvel share, almost one-third the current price of $2.38.
Bondholders, including investor Carl Icahn, have vowed to stop Perelman. Icahn, reportedly, has recently bought at least 25 percent of the bonds.
``It is patently clear that Ron Perelman has adopted this course to realize a windfall profit for himself at the expense of those to whom he owes a fiduciary responsibility,'' Icahn said in a statement.
