The liquidation of Destination Bermuda Magazine Ltd. has caused confusion over the rights to the managing company, can reveal.

The locally operated company is owned by Bermudian Sarah Tomlinson. In October 2002, the company was incorporated for the sole purpose of managing the popular in-flight magazine ?Destination Bermuda?, which is owned by Chris Ralston.

Mrs. Tomlinson said: ?I want to move on to get involved in something else. It?s been really fun, a really great little project.?

Asked why the local company was closing, Mr. Ralston told his company, Destination Publications Ltd., which produces the magazine, was ?just reorganising at the moment?.

Questioned about the liquidation of Destination Bermuda Magazine Ltd., which appeared in a legal notice in The Bermuda Sun on July 16, Mr. Ralston said: ?That is something that I am very concerned about. I was not informed of that.?

Mrs. Tomlinson told that as the sole member and shareholder of Destination Bermuda Magazine Ltd., she had resolved to liquidate the company. Her husband John Tomlinson has been appointed liquidator, and she herself was named secretary for the liquidation.

Mrs. Tomlinson responded to Mr. Ralston?s comments, saying: ?He thinks the (local management) company should be his, but I?m the sole shareholder. I?m the Bermudian. He owns the magazine; I own the company. I would rather liquidate my company, and he can incorporate with someone else.

?If he?s upset about the company being liquidated, I told him I?m paying the liquidation fees, and I?m willing to reimburse him for the incorporation fees.

?I?ve been working with him for nearly three years but two editions (of the magazine) because such things as collecting the revenue takes time... It?s very much my company except, at this point, he paid for the incorporation. If he thinks he owns (the company) for that reason, I?ll have to reimburse him for the incorporation.?

Mrs. Tomlinson explained that she and Mr. Ralston had had a contract that she described as ?really an oral agreement?.

She said: ?(Mr. Ralston) came to Bermuda and met the team. The agreement can be substantiated by the thousands of e-mails sent between us in relation to Destination Bermuda Magazine Ltd. managing the magazine.?

Mr. Ralston?s company, Destination Publications Ltd., apparently has several destination magazines for various Caribbean islands, although Mr. Ralston would not confirm for how many magazines he has or for which islands. When asked him to verify this point, which Mrs. Tomlinson had revealed, he responded: ?That has nothing to do with anything. If that is what Sarah Tomlinson has told you, she is not in a position to comment on what I do elsewhere. I want it on the record that you have not got my cooperation.?

He did, however, tell that ?Destination Bermuda? has been published for 14 years and has all along been based in Bermuda year-round.

Mrs. Tomlinson said: ?The thing about the magazine is it really has huge potential, and the reason it is so great is because it?s the first thing visitors see. The magazine is distributed at the gate into their hands. It?s a really nice magazine, and it could be a wonderful project for other Bermudians to be involved in.?

According to Mrs. Tomlinson, she was under the impression that the magazine would no longer be managed locally.

Mr. Ralston, however, said: ?There?s a reason behind the management change, about which you can draw your own conclusions. It is purely a matter between me and the management company.?

Mr. Ralston confirmed that he has always had an office here in Bermuda for the management of the magazine. He also said he was currently organising the magazine?s new management company.

Mr. Ralston then said: ?I?m very uncomfortable with you printing anything about the company, and presently, I am talking to my lawyers.?