What happened: Digital media publishing startup Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. The move comes after the firm failed to find a buyer. Vice entered into an asset purchase agreement with a consortium of lenders led by Fortress Investment Group with additional backing from Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital. The consortium invested $20M in Vice to help it with bankruptcy dealings and find a buyer. The group has agreed to purchase Vice's assets for $225M unless the firm can find another bidder willing to pay a higher price. The price represents a significant markdown from its peak valuation of $5.7B in 2017.
What the numbers say: Earlier this year, CNBC reported that Vice had restarted its sale process at a lower price after it failed to find bidders willing to buy the firm between $1B and $1.5B. Vice lowered the asking price to below $1B. The asking price was a third of its targeted valuation of $3B when it attempted to go public via a SPAC merger with 7GC & Co Holdings in 2021 before the market cooldown disrupted its plans. Per WSJ, the firm missed its revenue target by over $100M in 2022.
Relevance: Vice raised nearly $1.6B from VCs to date. It expects to complete its Chapter 11 process within the next two to three months.