[Variety] Struggling media company Vice Media Group is gearing up to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — and then sell itself to some of its backers for about $400 million, according to a new report.
The Brooklyn-based company post-bankruptcy arrangement to sell to investors including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management would value it at $400 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. That would be less than 10% of its once high-flying $5.7 billion valuation back in 2017. The New York Times last week reported that Vice was prepping a bankruptcy filing.
Cash-strapped Vice Media has been searching for a buyer over the past year, to no avail. In February, Nancy Dubuc announced her exit as CEO after almost five years. The company subsequently appointed longtime execs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala as co-CEOs.
Under the proposed sale to “senior lenders,” Fortress “plans to find a role for Vice co-founder Shane Smith,” who is executive chairman and previously served as CEO prior to Dubuc’s hire.
The bankruptcy and sale would “wipe out” most of Vice’s other shareholders, including TPG Group and James Murdoch (who invested in the company via his Lupa Systems investment firm), per the Journal report. Vice has been unable to pay many of its vendors and recently secured a $30 million “lifeline” from Fortress, the Journal previously reported.
| Courtesy of 3dc, the Wall Street Journal report can be read here. |
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