3Media Group in Voluntary Liquidation

3media Group Ltd, New Zealand's largest privately owned business-to-business publishing company, has been placed in voluntary liquidation.

The company has been for sale for the past three months but prospective buyers have had difficulty raising funds to purchase 3media's relatively large portfolio of magazines, newsletters and industry award events.

Insolvency specialists, Gerry Rea Partners, have been appointed liquidators as from today, May 1, 2009.

The move to voluntary liquidation means business as usual for the majority of 3media employees until the sale of the portfolio of publications has been accomplished. It also means that the company can more effectively manage the sale of the group's titles in clusters or as individual mastheads or activities. The liquidator, Mr Gerry Rea, says the company will trade the business until all its assets have been sold.

3media owns 15 monthly b2b magazines and newletters and promotes and manages major industry events. In March it sold the iconic dairy industry magazine NZ Dairy Exporter to Country-Wide Publications.