Digital media outlet Vice Media filed for bankruptcy on Monday, capping years of financial difficulties and layoffs of top executives, and amid a difficult period for several technology and media companies.
Vice announced that it has agreed to sell its assets to a consortium of lenders — Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital — in exchange for a $225 million loan. Other parties may also submit tenders.
"To facilitate the sale, Vice has filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11, the U.S. Bankruptcy Act," the outlet said in a statement.
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The company expects the sale to close in the next two to three months. During the process, Vice's media brands will continue to produce content and the company will continue to pay its employees and suppliers, according to the statement.
Vice Co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said in a statement that the "expedited, court-supervised sales process" will strengthen the company and position it for long-term growth, "safeguarding the kind of authentic journalism and content creation that make VICE a trusted brand for young people and such a valuable partner for brands. agencies and platforms".
Vice's assets and liabilities amount to between $500 million and $1 billion, according to Monday's filing.
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The bankruptcy filing comes just weeks after the company announced it would cancel its flagship Vice News Tonight program amid a wave of layoffs, which was expected to affect more than 100 employees 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.
Monday's announcement comes amid a wave of layoffs and closures of media outlets across the sector, including staff cuts at Gannett, NPR, The Washington Post and others in recent months. In April, BuzzFeed Inc. announced the closure of its Pulitzer Prize-winning digital outlet, BuzzFeed News, as part of a cost-cutting campaign by its parent company.
Digital advertising has plummeted this year, eroding the profitability of major tech companies from Google to Facebook.
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Vice Media's roots go back to 1994, with the launch of Vice's original punk magazine in Montreal. Vice soon moved to New York and became a global media company.
Over the years, Vice has built a reputation for direct journalism covering daring stories around the world. The company's assets also include film and television production, an in-house marketing agency, and brands such as Refinery 29 and Unbothered.
In recent years, the company has struggled to turn a profit. In the midst of its financial crisis, Vice secured $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group in February, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In 2017, Vice was valued at $5.700 billion. Now, however, most experts estimate the company is worth only a fraction of that, The New York Times reported earlier this month.
Monday's bankruptcy filing comes just months after Nancy Dubuc announced she would step down as the company's CEO. Vice appointed Dixon and Lokhandwala, longtime Vice executives, as co-CEOs. Dubuc replaced Vice co-founder Shane Smith in 2018, a turbulent time at Vice after a 2017 Times investigation uncovered rampant sexual harassment and misconduct at the company.
