Vice Media secured more than $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group, according to the Wall Street Journal. The money comes as Vice owes vendors and advisers millions, with some of the entities not having been paid in more than six months.
This isn’t the first time Fortress has come through financially for Vice Media. In 2019, the firm lent the media company $250 million, along with investors Soros Fund Management LLC, 23 Capital and Monroe Capital. Fortress is also one of the companies that is expected to receive payments if Vice is sold — a mission Vice is working toward after years of battling debt.
As part of their arrangement, Fortress has extended the maturity on an existing loan that needed to be paid by Vice by the end of 2022. In the meantime, Fortress will let Vice tap some of the new debt over time in order for the company to eventually find a buyer.
One of Vice’s potential buyers could be Greek broadcaster Antenna Group. In 2017, Vice was valued at $5.7 billion but is now seeking a $1.5 billion valuation. Disney, which had invested $400 million in Vice at lofty valuations in 2015, wrote down its entire investment in 2019.