Canadian media monitoring supplier MediaMiser has acquired key assets of Bulldog Reporter for $135K with plans to re-start the bankrupt PR trade publication after a federal judge approved the deal despite objections from the case's bankruptcy trustee.

PR trade publication Ragan Communications, meanwhile, has offered $25K for Bulldog's PR University and webinar business.

MM, a unit of the publicly traded digital and media services group Innodata, bought the Daily Dog, the Bulldog Awards, Inside Health Media, Media Pro and various books and publications of Bulldog.

Bulldog shut down in September and filed for bankruptcy protection in November saddled with $900K in debt and declining revenues.

MM, led by president Chris Morrison, said it re-opened Bulldog's Oakland, Calif., offices and hired some staff. Morrison said the Daily Dog will resume publication shortly, while the Bulldog Awards will be re-launched in 2015. Media Pro and Inside Health Media are back up for subscriber use.

Bankruptcy Judge Roger Efremsky approved the sale on Dec. 19, ordering Bulldog parent Sirius Information to then pay a secured $14,500 claim to Wells Fargo Bank. The trustee assigned to Bulldog's bankruptcy raised concerns that Sirius/Bulldog president Jim Sinkinson had a conflict of interest in the sale as a paid adviser to MediaMiser who would benefit from its purchase of Bulldog assets. Efremsky ruled that the sale was in the best interests of the bankrupt entity, its estate, creditors and other parties involved.

Bulldog sales fell from more than $1.5M in 2012 to around $946K through the end of August this year while net losses widened from $33K in 2012 to more than $128K this year.

Ragan Communications has offered $25K for the webinar business and PR University, which also includes downloads and CDs. The deal, subject to court approval, includes the PRU trade name, as well as current subscribers of the PR University Passport service and lists of past subscribers.

Ragan said it will fulfill a $105K liability from PR University by offering six-month subscriptions to webinars and its own training site, but will not offer refunds.