Vice, the global news publisher and TV company once valued at nearly $6 billion (£5 billion), is reportedly nearing a bankruptcy filing.
The company, which owns assets including Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29, and Vice TV, has been in discussions with at least five potential buyers in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.
Vice, which reached a valuation of $5.7 billion in 2017 as major media players like Rupert Murdoch, WPP, and Disney sought a stake in its appeal to younger audiences, is currently looking to sell for around $1.5 billion.
Recently, the company – which has been re-evaluating its future since its plans to go public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) fell through two years ago – announced the cancellation of its popular Vice News Tonight as part of a restructuring plan that could lead to over 100 layoffs.
In February, Fortress Investment Group, the company’s debt holder, provided a $30 million funding line to help Vice settle overdue payments to vendors.
That same month, Nancy Dubuc, who succeeded controversial co-founder Shane Smith as CEO in 2018, announced her unexpected departure.
If a sale cannot be finalized – with potential buyers reportedly seeking a deal below $1 billion – Vice would enter bankruptcy proceedings while continuing to operate and conducting an auction process.
“Vice Media Group has been engaged in a comprehensive evaluation of strategic alternatives and planning,” the company stated. “The company, its board, and stakeholders remain focused on finding the best path forward.”
Vice, which started as a punk magazine in Montreal nearly thirty years ago, expanded into digital media and television, forging partnerships with companies like Sky and HBO.
The company attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in investments, including a $3 billion acquisition offer from Disney in 2015, though Disney eventually wrote off its $400 million investment in Vice as worthless in 2019.
Vice was part of a wave of rapidly growing digital media companies, such as BuzzFeed, that once appeared poised to replace traditional media outlets with their strategies for engaging millennial audiences.
Last week, BuzzFeed, which now has a market value of $75 million following a poor initial public offering last year, announced the closure of its remaining BuzzFeed News operation and a reduction of 180 staff across the company.
