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Italian pay TV operator Dahlia has called in the liquidator after its key shareholder, the Swedish Wallenberg family, pulled the plug after months of unpaid invoices and mounting losses.

The fledgling TV company had some 800,000 registered users, who paid for a mix of soccer and evening adult entertainment.

In a statement the company said it hoped a plan could be developed that would lead to a quick resolution. But it is thought that the influential Wallenberg family had decided not to invest further in the venture.

In the 2009-10 tax year, Dahlia made losses of 21 million euro ($27 million). Its position was further weakened when it recently lost out to Italian broadcast powerhouse Mediaset over the right to cover matches by three soccer clubs -- Palermo, Bologna and Fiorentina.

Wallenberg’s holding company Investor AB is the main owner of Airplus TV that controls 80 percent of Dahlia.

“This is the case with all investments that involve risks”, Investor spokesperson Oscar Stege Unger told finance daily Dagens Industri. “Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you fail".