A majority of creditors passed Derwent director Jim Flynn’s deed of company arrangement (DOCA), which would pay out 4.19c to 5.72c in the dollar.
Administrator Worrells said that the decision “means winding up proceedings against Derwent Howard Media will not go ahead”.
Webstar was one of several printing companies represented at the meeting by credit insurer QBE, which is believed to have pushed for the publisher to be liquidated rather than accept the DOCA.
The deal is said to mean Flynn will pay out $160,000 of an estimated $2.8m-$4m in debts.
Webstar financial controller Bruce Teoh told ProPrint he was disappointed with the outcome, but accepted there was little the business could do to recoup an unsecured debt claimed to be around $678,000.
“I think it is poor. 5c in the dollar – it is a poor offer,” said Teoh.
“Having said that, if the company was forced into liquidation, the dividend could be zero. It’s really a no-win situation.”
“It’s just one of those things in business. We have to move on,” he added.
The administration saga brought to an end an eight-year relationship with Webstar.
“We had a meeting with Jim Flynn when he told us that their business was in financial difficulty, and we expressed our disappointment then,” Teoh said.
“It came as a bit of a shock. We didn’t have any warnings that they were getting themselves into financial trouble,” he added.
Derwent Howard Media left behind a string of unsecured debts with various printing companies after being placed into voluntary administration in October. The Quality Group told ProPrint its debt was “higher than” $245,000, while McPhersons Printing also confirmed a debt of $57,000.
Flynn placed Derwent Howard into administration after a turbulent year in which co-founder Nathan Berkley left the company in March and managing director Nick Cutler resigned in August.
Some of Derwent Howard’s titles, including the flagship Official Playstation Magazine, are continuing to be published by Media Factory, a company recently set up by Flynn.
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