Bankruptcy for InnoVision: Publisher of ATHM, IMCJ and Advances Expects Recovery under Chapter 11
Written by John Weeks
Bankruptcy for InnoVision: Publisher of ATHM, IMCJ and Advances Expects Recovery under Chapter 11
Summary: InnoVision Health Media, the publisher of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal, Advancesin Mind-Body Medicine and consumer media has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The filing came despite its "best year ever" on both the professional and consumer sides. InnoVision's operations have been hounded by debt assumed when the group of publications was purchased in 2004. Rob Lutz, president and group publisher, told the Integrator that the firm recently secured financing and expects to continue its growth.
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Boulder, Colorado-based InnoVision Health Media, the publisher of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine (ATHM) and Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal (IMCJ), has filed for bankruptcy. The most significant factor behind the move, according to a spokesman, was debt assumed in 2004 to purchase the family of media which made InnoVision the leader in the alternative, complementary and integrative medicine space. The firm also owns the consumer-oriented Natural
Solutions: Vibrant Health, Balanced Living (formerly Alternative Medicine) and the online professional
journal Advances in Mind-Body Medicine.
Getting out from under chronic debt
InnoVision will continue operating as it seeks to restructure its debt and operations. The Integrator was informed today, November 26, 2008, that the firm has obtained financing to operate in bankruptcy. The source and amount were not disclosed.
Rob Lutz, the firm's president and group publisher told the Integrator that the filing came despite 2008 being a good year: "We had our best year ever." Revenues on the consumer side are up 12% over the prior year, and up 5% on the "professional side." But the firm needed additional financing and couldn't scare it up with the debt burden that "came with the purchase." Lutz states bluntly: "We couldn't get financing without the debt restructuring under Chapter 11." InnoVision is talking to potential investors and to purchasers.
The professional publications are the most widely distributed in the integrative medicine space. Roughly 22,000 copies of ATHM and a similar number for IMCJ are distributed each issue. A portion are paid subscribers and some are distributed under a model in which advertising underwrites distribution. Lutz says that newsstand sales for its consumer publications are also up. "These are great products that are respected in the marketplace," Lutz states.
Lutz views the Chapter 11 as a positive sign: "If creditors think you can't get on your feet, you go into Chapter 7, you stop publishing, you start selling off the assets." Subscribers shouldn't expect any break in receiving their subscriptions as InnoVision expects to continue operating in bankruptcy.
Disclosure: As a columnist for IMCJ, I am among the firm's creditors.
Comment: Through friendship and professional relationships, i have been aware of InnoVision's economic trials since nearly the 2004 purchase. It is ironic that the need to file Chapter 11 comes at the end of its best year. Historically, ATHM's subscription hovered around 10,000-12,000. It's nice to see the numbers up, to the extent that the 22,000 reflects paid subscribers. Here's hoping the operation keeps rolling, and, uh, the writers get paid.
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