Vice Media filed for bankruptcy on Monday after filing for bankruptcy (Chapter 11). The US-Canadian media group founded in 1994 by Suroosh Alvi, Gavin McInnes, and Shane Smith will be sold to a consortium of creditors Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital for 225 million dollars. The group of creditors will buy virtually all of Vice’s assets: Vice News, Vice TV, Vice Studios, Pulse Films, Virtue, Refinery29 and iD.
The three creditors must assume a liability estimated at between 500 and 1,000 million dollars. Vice Media’s valuation in 2017 was still $5.7 billion. Vice Media, which produces content in 25 languages and has approximately 30 offices worldwide, has been affected in recent years by the turbulence in the sector due to economic instability and the decline in advertising sales. At the end of April, Vice had already announced that it would fire 100 of the 1,500 workers as part of a reorganization process which then culminated in the cancellation of the weekly Vice News Tonight.
“This court-supervised accelerated sales process will strengthen the company and position Vice for long-term growth, safeguarding the journalism and content creation business that makes Vice,” Vice Co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said. such a trusted brand for young people and such a valuable partner for brands, agencies and platforms. We will have new ownership, a simplified capital structure and the ability to operate without the liabilities that have burdened our business. We look forward to complete the sales process in the next two to three months and chart a healthy and successful next chapter at Vice.” Vice Media Group specifies the company in a press release “will continue to operate normally during the Chapter 11 procedure”.
‘The Voice of Montreal’ was born almost 30 years ago in Canada as an underground magazine. In 1996 the founders Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi and Galvin McInnes bought the property creating ‘Vice’. Subsequently the group expands becoming a real multimedia platform whose main target is an audience between 18 and 35 years. In 2006 Vice Media had registered a turnover of approximately 600 million euros.
Source-www.adnkronos.com