Private equity firm Apax told its investors earlier this year it has written down the value of its investment in B2B magazine publisher Emap to nothing, according to Telegraph.co.uk. Apax, in partnership with Guardian Media Group, paid £1.3 billion for the company last year. Emap made a £2 million loss in the year to March 31 2008—before Apax and GMG’s ownership—though operating profits rose to £100 million in the 12 months to March 31 this year. Similarly, in March Ingenious Media revised its investment in B2B publisher Incisive Media downwards by £10 million.

But In reality, none of this gives much cause for concern. The write-down reflects the “mark-to-market” value of Emap—a temporary estimate used by investors to judge a company’s current market value, not its intrinsic paper value nor its ability to generate revenue. Such a low mark-to-market price if anything reflects problems in the wider economy and the chances Emap’s owners would have of offloading it if they wanted, which are slim to absolutely none in the current market.

Apax declined our invitation to comment, but a GMG spokesman said: “We are very happy with Emap both in terms of its operating performance and as an investment for GMG. Emap is performing well, generating operating profits of around £100m, and actually increased profit in the last financial year.”

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