GoDigital wants to buy Vice
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GoDigital, a privately held holding group that owns Latino digital media giant NGLmitú, plans to submit a roughly $300 million to $350 million bid to buy Vice Media out of bankruptcy Tuesday, a source told Axios.
Why it matters: The acquisition would place Vice and its global content and production assets, such as Refinery29, Virtue and i-D, in the hands of a company that plans to invest in its brands — and perhaps revive them.
- GoDigital's plan for Vice Media includes bringing it to profitability within 12 months, a source said. It believes Vice's brands still have potential but they have been mismanaged for years.
- Vice's revenues were roughly $600 million in 2022, around the same amount it earned in 2018, and it was not profitable, sources told Axios.
Driving the news: Bids for Vice in its bankruptcy auction are due Tuesday. The auction is slated to take place Thursday, and the deal is expected to close July 7, a source said.
- July 7 is when Vice Media is expected to run out of cash to operate.
- A consortium of investors led by Fortress Investment Group and with participation from Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital has presented a "stalking horse bid" for the court-supervised sale process, which would value Vice at $225 million.
- A source told Axios that Fortress has pledged to write new debt for the acquirer as part of the deal.
Be smart: There have been reports that other entities, such as Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Revolt and Group Black, were interested in submitting bankruptcy bids to buy the whole company, but it's unclear if those bids will actually materialize.
- Bonin Bough, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Group Black, would not confirm in an interview on stage at the Cannes Lions Creative Festival in France on Monday that Group Black was bidding for Vice.
- Antenna, a Saudi-backed Greek broadcaster, is no longer considering a bid, a source said.
- There are bidders interested in buying certain assets individually out of bankruptcy, a source said, including Refinery29 and Virtue, but it's unlikely individual assets would win out against bids for the full company.
Between the lines: GoDigital, which has well over 1,300 employees globally, has built a sizable holding group through a series of small acquisitions and investments across media, music and retail.
- It also has a background in acquiring distressed assets, having bought both Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob's Stores.
- It has a big business in music rights ownership that it has continued to expand globally.
Go deeper: More on Vice's bankruptcy
