The Wicks Group of Companies, a prior owner of Vibe magazine, is making headway on its fourth fund.

The New York-based media specialist has raised about $278.4 million, according to a form D filing. The PE firm is targeting $559.9 million for Wicks Capital Partners IV, L.P., the May 12 filing said.

Credit Suisse is the placement agent.

The pool has received a $40 million commitment from the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. Wicks Capital Partners IV, L.P. has proposed “an annual management fee of 2.0% per annum of commitments during the commitment period and, after the commitment period, 2.0% per annum on net invested capital,” according to February board minutes from ATRS.

Antenna Audio, which was recently bought by the Wicks Group, has named Janet Matricciani as its CEO. Antenna Audio produces and delivers educational content for use in multimedia and mobile tours for museums, exhibitions and historic sites. Wicks is a New York PE firm. Matricciani was previousy senior VP of corporate development at K12 Inc.

Wicks Group of Cos. LLC named Carl Fazio chief financial and operating officer of its portfolio company Antenna Audio. Fazio is a seasoned financial and operating executive with over 25 years of experience in the information and media industries, Wicks said.

An affiliate of Wicks Group of Cos. LLC bought Antenna Audio Inc., Antenna Audio Ltd. and subsidiaries from Discovery Communications. Antenna provides audio and multimedia content at museums, exhibitions, historic sites and other venues.

(Reuters) – U.S. newspaper publisher Heartland Publications LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, hurt by a fall in advertising revenue due to the economic downturn and growing competition from Internet-based alternatives. As of Oct. 31, 2009, Heartland Publications reported about $134.3 million in total assets and about $166.2 million in total liabilities, court [...]

The Wicks Group of Cos. has completes its $170 million cash sale of career education company Penn Foster Education Group Inc. to The Princeton Review Inc. (Nasdaq: REVU).

The Wicks Group of Cos. has agreed to sellonline career education company Penn Foster Education Group Inc. to The Princeton Review Inc. (Nasdaq: REVU). The deal is valued at $170 million in cash.

On Monday we posted a beefed-up version of the LBO-backed bankruptcy list for 2009. (There have been three more since then, by the way.)

Today I’ve got a week’s worth of Moody’s and S&P downgrades on PE-backed companies. There are eight of ‘em to date.