Billionaire George Soros is set to take control of Vice Media, a failed liberal media network.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Vice Media is close to settling a deal to sell itself out of bankruptcy to lenders, including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, for a roughly $400 million valuation.
At its prime in 2017, Vice Media was at its peak valuation of $5.7 billion.
Nearly all of Vice’s stockholders, including James Murdoch, the son of Fox News CEO Rupert Murdoch, will be forfeited as a result of the deal. It would also elevate outstanding debts owed to TPG Group and Sixth Street stockholders.
The Soros-founded hedge fund management company manages the assets of the Soros family and several other institutional clients. At the same time, Fortress Investment Group is an investment management firm that manages alternative assets in private equity, credit, and real estate.
Earlier this month, Vice announced that the network was planning on filing for bankruptcy, which is expected to happen in a matter of weeks. The company could still find another buyer. However, a sale process that was held earlier this year was unsuccessful. Bidders such as Group Black and GoDigital Media Group inquired about the network but ultimately backed out.
Sources told the New York Times that Vice has struggled to attract buyers for its brazen and bold programming choices, which has bills piling up, causing several vendors to resort to debt collectors.
Vice is the second once-popular media outlet to shut its doors this year. In March, Buzzfeed News announced the Leftist outlet was also going out of business due to not being able to secure advertisement funds needed to sustain operations.
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