Comdex owner out of Chap. 11

Tuesday, June 24, 2003 | 10:49 a.m.

The company that produces the Comdex and Networld+Interop computer trade shows in Las Vegas emerged from bankruptcy, changed its name and headquarters and put a new management team in place.

Key3Media Group Inc. announced last week that it has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following hearings in Delaware. In addition, the company announced that it has changed its name to Medialive International Inc., and moved its corporate offices from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Robert Priest-Heck was named chief executive officer of the company, succeeding Frederic Rosen, a onetime executive at Ticketmaster. Rosen will stay on Medialive's board of directors.

When Key3Media filed for bankruptcy protection in February, it was $372 million in debt. The fall Comdex show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the company's premiere technology trade show, had its attendance drop from 200,000 in the mid-1990s to 125,000 after the tech industry faltered in 2001 and the terrorist attacks curtailed convention travel.

Funds managed by Thomas Weisel Capital Partners invested in the company and now own 90 percent of its equity. When the company reorganized its finances, it improved its balance sheet by reducing debt by 87 percent and annual interest expenses by 91 percent, the company said.

Through the court proceedings, Key3Media officials vowed to emerge from bankruptcy on the strength of the Comdex brand. When the bankruptcy filing was announced, a rival technology trade show emerged and scheduled itself during the same November time frame as Comdex.

Alan Meckler, chairman and chief executive officer of Juptermedia Corp., Darien, Conn., said his Computer Digital Expo show would occur at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Nov. 17-21. Meckler is marketing his show as an alternative to Comdex and he cast doubt on whether Key3Media would be able to emerge from bankruptcy.

Doubts also have been cast on the status of Meckler's show. Meckler denied published reports that the event had been canceled and Mandalay Bay filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit saying the hotel had been told in a May 29 letter from Meckler that the show had been canceled. Mandalay Bay has since said the show is back on its calendar but has not commented on the status of the suit.

Meanwhile, officials with the Sands Expo Center say they are considering whether to produce a third technology convention at the same time as the other two.

Comdex originally had its roots at the Sands Expo Center, founded by Venetian hotel-casino owner Sheldon Adelson 24 years ago. Adelson's sale of the show to Softbank in 1995 helped finance the construction of the Venetian.

When Medialive Inc. announced the emergence from bankruptcy and the other corporate changes, it confirmed that its tech shows scheduled for the rest of the year, including Comdex, are still on.