Comdex Producer Files For Bankruptcy Protection

Key3Media Group, the company operating the giant Comdex trade show, filed for protection from its creditors Monday in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

The Los Angeles-based company has been buffeted by declining attendance at its signature trade show, along with a slumping technology industry and dwindling public fascination with the personal computer. (See story.)

Key3Media said its filing is part of a recapitalization plan that, if approved, would leave the company in the ownership of investment bank Thomas Weisel Capital Partners.

Under the plan, Weisel, which already owns a large portion of Key3Media's $372 million debt, would assume a larger share while providing the company with $30 million in debtor-in-possession financing.

Key3Media said it aims to emerge from Chapter 11 under its current management, within 90 days of filing.

The company's Comdex show has faltered alongside other PC-centric technology shows like TechXNY, while a related event, the International Consumer Electronics Show, which took place in Las Vegas last month, thrives. The reason, perhaps, is that the PC's role in consumer gadgets has upstaged its now mundane use as a standalone device.

Still, Key3Media's upcoming events won't be canceled, the company said. Besides the Comdex show, scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in November, Key3Media also operates NetWorld Interop, JavaOne San Francisco and Seybold Seminars.

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