Alpha was printed by Hannanprint and had a circulation of 65,000 for the six months from June to December 2010, an 11.3% fall from the half-year previous.

The titles that Express Media will publish under licence are Modern Fishing, Modern Boating, Overlander 4WD, Truckin’ Life, Live To Ride, 2Wheels, Chopper, Tattoo and Scooter. Printing had been shared between IPMG companies Hannanprint and Craft Inprint.

The nine titles used to be both printed and published by IPMG, before it sold its 25-title magazine company, FPC, to News Ltd in 2006.

Express Media is based in Silverwater, Sydney, and specialises in niche magazines. It is set to take complete control of the titles on Monday 16 May, and director Keith Whittington said the nine new mastheads would grow the number of magazines in its portfolio by about 20%.

He would not comment on strong speculation that Express plans to send the nine titles offshore for printing. But the company predominantly uses Asian suppliers, with a number of its existing magazines produced at 2,000-staff giant Times Printers in Singapore.

IPMG chief executive Stephen Anstice said he was “sad to see Alpha closed” and would be “disappointed if we were to lose the other titles to offshore printers”.

News Magazines chief executive Sandra Hook said: “Closing a title is never an easy decision. The Alpha team has worked consistently and diligently in an extremely competitive and fragmented environment. Throughout its publication, Alpha has maintained solid rapport with its loyal and passionate sports-loving readers and advertisers.”

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