Zinio partly dismantled, and sold to Gilvest

Investment company Gilvest has acquired San Francisco electronic publisher Zinio Systems, which distributes digital magazines via a downloadable reader. The magazines include TV Guide, Men’s Health, Black Enterprise and Penthouse.

This comes after Zinio sold another of its assets, BlueDolphin, last month.

From the MediaPost article:

Maggiotto said that later this year, Zinio intends to roll out a new version of its downloadable electronic reader as well as a browser-based reader. The new product will make content “much more accessible and much more discoverable” by consumers, he said. For instance, with the upcoming reader, consumers will more easily be able to preview magazines and browse through their pages before purchasing them. The new reader also will be compatible with both Macs and PCs, said Doug Carlson, who manages Gilvest.

The company is owned by entrepreneur David Gilmour, founder and former chairman of Fiji Water, and cofounder of other companies including the South Pacific Hotel Corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation and Horsham Corporation.