Vice Media's Next Chapter After Bankruptcy: Fortress Investment Announces Winning Bid Of $225M

Fortress Investment Group’s stalking horse bid of $225 million has been declared the winning offer for Vice Media as the company exits bankruptcy.

Despite receiving multiple offers, none were deemed superior to Fortress’s bid, CNBC reported citing an internal memo.

GoDigital presented one of the bids at a $300 million valuation. However, Fortress desired more cash and had reservations about GoDigital’s funding.

“Our offer was significantly more than the stalking horse bid by the sellers,” GoDigital said in a statement. “The sellers chose to turn down this opportunity even though it was a bid higher than their own,” said the sources close to the matter.

GoDigital’s chief strategy officer, Craig Greiwe, mentioned that they remain prepared to acquire Vice on reasonable terms and have demonstrated the financial ability to do so.

Investments from the Walt Disney Co DIS, and TPG Inc TPG, which injected hundreds of millions of dollars into Vice, will be rendered worthless by the bankruptcy, according to The New York Times, affirming Vice as one of the media industry’s most significant bad bets.

A group of creditors, including Fortress, Soros Fund Management, and Monroe Capital, took control of Vice out of bankruptcy, leading up to a potential auction for the company.

The potential auction will not occur without outstanding credible bids.

Vice will propose the sale to the bankruptcy court on Friday and expects the acquisition to close then.

The acquisition will close a chapter for Vice Media, valued at $5.7 billion in 2017, and owns a range of assets, including Vice News, Vice Studios, Refinery29, and an ad agency called Virtue.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.