Summit's Nadir

Image via WikipediaSaddled with $252 million in debts and unsecured claims, New York-based business-to-business publisher Summit Business Media Holding Co., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware (In re Summit Business Media Holding Co., Case No. 11-10231), according to a Reuters article.

Summit covers the property/casualty insurance, life/health insurance, investment advisory and global mining and professional services markets through its 16 magazines, 20 Web sites and roughly 150 reference titles. The recession, heavy debt burden and ad revenues drying up are blamed for pushing Summit into bankruptcy.

Chicago-based private equity firm Wind Point Partners  presently holds 85 percent of Summit's equity. Summit, which has targeted the first half of 2011 for its re-emergence from insolvency, anticipates converting $188 million in senior secured debt into new loans totaling $116 million, enabling creditors to own 89 percent of equity in the re-organized company, according to the Reuters article.