Coast distributor Plant's business in 1988 "and went national" thereby assuming control of "40 percent of the direct-sales market." (Diamond and Capital City Distribution had control of at least 70% between them.) Further expansion In 1990, Diamond acquired Oregon-based Second Genesis Distribution (whose operations folded in 1991). Second Genesis had previously absorbed distributors Sunrise Distributors and Comex. One week after announcing the acquisition of Second Genesis, Diamond announced the acquisition of the Seattle-based sub-distributor Destiny Distribution. Destiny had been started by Phil Pankow in the early 1980s, and was initially supplied by Bud Plant. In 1991, Diamond moved into the UK market, acquiring Neptune Comic Distributors Ltd. (to whom they had formerly supplied US comics for the UK market), in the process creating Diamond UK. In 1993, Diamond acquired the single remaining dominant British distributor Titan Distributors, thus cornering the direct market in the United Kingdom. In 1994, Diamond acquired Staten Island-based distributor Comics Unlimited. By this point, Diamond had "27 warehouses in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., employ[ing] between 750 and 900 people;" operated its own trucking line; and controlled 45% of the market, making $222 million in sales. In 1996, Diamond launched the toll-free Comic Shop Locator service. Heroes World and Capital City In 1995, Marvel Comics challenged Diamond and main rival Capital City by buying the third largest distributor — Heroes World Distribution — and distributing its titles in-house after taking over from Curtis Circulation. On April 26, 1995, Diamond reacted by outbidding Capital City for exclusive deals with Marvel's main rivals DC Comics, Dark Horse and Image on July 24, and Valiant Comics in August. Capital City's response saw it sign exclusive deals with Kitchen Sink Press and Viz Comics, but a year later faced the choice between bankruptcy and selling out. Diamond bought Capital City on July 26, 1996, assuming near-control of the comics distribution system. The purchase price was not disclosed, but the acquisition brought an estimated $50 million in sales revenue to Diamond. In early 1997, when Marvel's Heroes World endeavor failed, Diamond also forged an exclusive deal with Marvel after the publisher's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 1996. — giving the company its own section of comics catalog Previews (not least because the DC/Dark Horse/Image deal gave contractual prominence to those companies) — making "Geppi... the sole king of comics industry distribution in the summer of 1996." Antitrust