After declaring bankruptcy last month, Vice Media – parent of brands such as Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29, and Vice TV – is set to be taken over by a group of buyers including Fortress Investment Group.
The New York Times reports that the takeover will cost US$225 million to acquire Vice, with Fortress winning out meaning that a “bankruptcy auction” for the company will now be called off. Lenders for the deal reportedly include Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management, and Monroe Capital.
“While we received multiple bids for the company, none of the other bids rose to the level of being deemed a superior bid,” Hozefa Lokhandwala and Bruce Dixon – Vice Media’s co-chief executives – wrote to staff in an internal email.
In February, the company took on a $US30 million loan whilst it searched for a buyer. The news of the youth-focused digital publisher’s bankruptcy was announced in May.
Frank A. Pometti, a consultant hired as the chief restructuring officer of Vice Media, wrote in a declaration at the time filing: “Like many other growth companies in the media and technology sectors, VICE has been cash flow negative for the past several years.
“As a result, VICE relied on external funding, raising both debt and equity capital to fuel its rapid growth and to fund expenses in certain parts of its businesses. Although these fund-raising efforts helped to finance VICE’s growth, they ultimately led to the Company being burdened by a highly leveraged and unusually complex capital structure.”
Mediaweek confirmed that Vice Media’s bankruptcy declaration in the US will not impact Australia’s SBS VICELAND.
An SBS spokesperson said: “There are currently no impacts for SBS. The SBS VICELAND channel is a curated mix of programming including content SBS selects from Vice, alongside a range of other suppliers, and we have the flexibility to respond to programming and scheduling changes when needed.”