Valiant Entertainment was originally founded as Valiant Comics in 1989 by Jim Shooter and Bob Layton and quickly became one of the largest and most popular comics companies during the early ’90s, selling over 80 million books. As dramatic as its rise, so too was the company’s eventual downfall. Acquired by Acclaim Entertainment, the focus was shifted more towards exploiting the characters for video games. When Acclaim went out of business, Valiant Comics disappeared. Valiant Entertainment resurfaced in 2008, having re-acquired all of the comic book properties previously known as Valiant Comics. This time the company is co-founded by Jason Kothari and Dinesh Shamdasani and has received a capital infusion from private investment company Cuneo & Company, LLC. Peter Cuneo, Managing Principal of Cuneo & Co., recently concluded ten years of leadership at Marvel Entertainment, which achieved one of the most extraordinary turnarounds in entertainment history during that period. His tenure with Marvel concluded with Marvel’s sale at the end of 2009 to The Walt Disney Company for over $4 billion. Gavin Cuneo, Principal of Cuneo & Co., was an investment banker with Bank of America Merrill Lynch prior to the founding of Cuneo & Co. He has spent over ten years working in investment banking and investment management and has been appointed to Valiant’s Board of Directors.
“I am excited to be partnering with Peter and Gavin,” said CEO Jason Kothari. “Peter’s decade of leadership at Marvel, Gavin’s decade of experience on Wall Street, and their highly active roles with Valiant will be integral to our expansion.”
“The strength of the management team which Jason has created and the quality of the characters owned and controlled by the company have made this an extremely attractive and exciting investment,” said Peter Cuneo.
“We see a great opportunity in today’s comic book industry for the emergence of a brand that combines the power of a strong legacy with a first-class creative and business team,” said Gavin Cuneo.
Peter and Gavin are working closely with Valiant’s expanded management team to usher in the new era of Valiant.
“We have been planning the reintroduction of the Valiant titles for some time and I’m excited to announce our scheduled launch for 2012,” said Director Dinesh Shamdasani. “Cutting-edge characters and stories were the core tenants of the original Valiant and are the core tenants of the new Valiant.”
“Valiant owns and controls a universe of some of the most recognizable characters in the comic world,” added Peter Cuneo. “To this day, despite interruptions in its history, Valiant has retained an extremely passionate fan base. We are keenly focused on bringing the original Valiant Universe back for these fans as well as introducing these powerful characters and stories to new readers.”
