VICE Media files Bankruptcy

Vice Media, the edgy digital media startup known for its provocative visual storytelling and punchy, explicit voice, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early Monday.

A consortium of Vice’s lenders, which includes Fortress Investment, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, is looking to acquire the company following the filing. The group set to buy the company will provide $225 million in the form of a credit bid for most of Vice Media’s assets, the company announced Monday, along with significant liabilities.

At its peak six years ago, Vice was valued at $5.7 billion. In the past year, Vice struggled to find bidders willing to pay nine figures.

The sale process, which should conclude in the next two to three months, would allow other parties to submit “higher or better bids” for the company, it added. Vice’s international entities and Vice TV, a joint venture with A&E Networks, are not part of the Chapter 11 filing or the sale process. The filing stated that the company had assets and liabilities worth between $500 million and $1 billion.

The bankruptcy filing arrives just weeks after the company announced it would cancel its flagship Vice News Tonight program amid a wave of layoffs expected to impact more than 100 of the company’s 1,500-person workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company also said it would end its Vice World News brand.

 

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