Plastics and rubber magazine publisher Dr. Gupta Verlag GmbH is going out of business, according to staff.

The Ratingen, Germany-based company filed for insolvency at the end of January 2023, a move that alone did not necessarily mean the demise of the company. Planning for further 2023 issues of the German-language GAK and English-language TPE Magazine continued for a while, but not for long.

A Feb. 10 meeting between owner, CEO and Publisher Jörg Spangemacher and insolvency administrator Marc d'Avoine resulted in a decision to immediately cease publication of all four of the company's magazines and to wind up the company on March 31.

The decision marks the end of a business with roots dating to 1948, when GAK was first published by Gentner Verlag.

Heinz Bijoy Prosad Gupta became GAK editor-in-chief in 1972 and the magazine continued with the establishment Dr. Gupta Verlag, founded by Heinz Gupta and his son Frank Ananda Sree Prosad Gupta, in 1994.

GAK was originally named GAK Gummi Asbest Kunststoffe (Rubber Asbestos Plastics), but it was popularly known as GAK, since asbestos is no longer an area of emphasis. In January 2023 GAK was officially renamed GAK Gummi Additive Kunststoffe to better reflect its coverage.

Born in Calcutta, India, in 1932, Heinz Gupta obtained a doctorate in chemistry at Bonn University before deciding to set up trade magazine publishing in Germany.

Holding a chemistry degree, Ananda was instrumental in the introduction of the German language PU Magazin in 2001, which was followed by English and Chinese language versions, before finally reverting to just the English PU Magazine International in 2022.

Ananda died in 2012 at age 48.

Heinz Gupta died in September 2020 at age 88. The company had already passed to Heinz Gupta's daughter Indira Elisabeth Gupta. She passed responsibility to management consultant Hans Langohr in November 2020, and he served as interim managing director until February 2021.

Spangemacher bought Gupta Verlag in 2021, coming out of retirement after a 40-year career in publishing. Spangemacher had previously launched Mediawelt GmbH, a Ratingen-based company with German, English and Chinese language trade journals.

Spangemacher said Gupta Verlag had faced "extraordinarily difficult economic situation," and said it had only survived as long as it did due to "repeated contributions from the owner's private assets."

Spangemacher adopted a radically new approach, with an informal culture not typical of German publishers. Gupta Verlag had 10 employees and a low overhead structure. But at the end of the day, it generated insufficient income from advertising or subscriptions.

In addition to GAK, Polyurethane Magazine International and TPE Magazine, the company also published RFP Rubber Fibres Plastics, which was established in 2006.

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