Vice Media Group filed for bankruptcy in the US and will be sold to a group of its lenders, the BBC said in a report. Vice Media Group is the company behind websites Vice and Motherboard and also ran programmes like Vice News Tonight, Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia and VICE Debates.
The media group which was once valued at $6 billion could now be taken over for $225m, the BBC said. The digital media outlet whose main focus has been the youth said that operations will continue during the bankruptcy process.
Vice said that it “expects to emerge as a financially healthy and stronger company in two to three months”.
Vice was launched in 1994 as a fringe magazine called Voice of Montreal by Shane Smith, Gavin McInnes and Suroosh Alvi. It now operates in more than 30 nations. The content, which is targeted towards young people, covers a range of mediums including print, events, music, online platforms, TV and feature films.
Fortress Investment Group, Monroe Capital, and Soros Fund Management - which was founded by billionaire fund manager George Soros - are among the investors of Vice Media Group.
Vice Media received approval of $20m funding by its lenders to sustain operations during bankruptcy proceedings.
The company can receive better bids from other firms during this period, and if none prevail, the lenders will purchase Vice Media for $225m.
Vice’s revenues were lower than expected for the past few years and it struggled to turn a profit. The media group’s plan to go public through a merger also failed, the BBC said.
The media group announced layoffs in April after its flagship TV programme was shut down
Amid financial challenges and a decline in advertising revenue, another youth-focused news media group, BuzzFeed also announced the closure of its news division and laid off 15% of its workforce.