(New York) The American information media group Vice Media is to be taken over by a group of creditors for 350 million dollars, just over a month after its bankruptcy filing, a step which should allow it to continue its activity .
The creditors had initially offered 225 million, but finally significantly raised their offer, according to a document filed Thursday in the proceedings.
In an internal email seen by AFP, the two co-chief executives, Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala, indicate that they will recommend Friday to a specialized federal court in New York to accept the offer submitted by the companies. investment Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital.
The transaction, which must be approved by a federal judge, will facilitate Vice’s exit from Chapter 11, which is the equivalent of a safeguard proceeding.
This acquisition allows the three investment companies to convert their claims into capital, even if they have given up part of their funds in the process.
“With this new ownership, we look forward to beginning a new chapter in (Vice Media’s) history, with a renewed focus on creating world-class content for audiences and partners,” the two executives wrote. in the email.
Another media company, GoDigital Media, had put on the table $300 million, above the initial offer from creditors, but it was rejected because the proposal did not include a sufficient proportion of cash.
GoDigital Media considered that the share of money claimed was “unreasonable”, a source close to the group told AFP. “The process was not fair”, regretted the same source.
The sum for which Vice will be bought represents less than 5% of its maximum valuation, or 5.7 billion dollars in 2017.
The group embodied, at the time, a new generation of all-online media, which some saw revolutionizing the sector at the expense of historical players in the press and television.
But most of these startups have failed to generate the revenue that investors projected.
The slowdown in the online advertising market, the deterioration in economic conditions and the tightening of credit conditions have made the situation for these young media even more difficult.
Another flagship of this new generation, BuzzFeed, also announced at the end of April the closure of the BuzzFeed News site, with 180 redundancies at stake.