Vice Bankruptcy

Vice raised more than $1.3bn from a total of 17 different investors since 2011. In 2023, Vice Media filed for bankruptcy after almost 30 years of operations. The company continues to operate under Chapter 11 today

August 29, 2023

Welcome to the thirty-fourth Pari Passu newsletter.

Today, we are going to learn more about the restructuring process of a company a lot of you might be familiar with: Vice Media.

Bankruptcy

On May 15th, 2023, Vice Media filed for bankruptcy after almost 30 years of operations. The company is currently operating under Chapter 11, these operations include its flagship website, the ad agency Virtue, the Pulse Films division, and Refinery29, a women-focused site acquired by Vice in 2019. The bankruptcy announcement came after the company shuttered VICE World News and canceled VICE News Tonight, laying off over 100 employees. Popular with the millennial audience through its websites Vice and Motherboard, Vice Media filed for bankruptcy protection last month in a move that capped years of financial difficulties, top-executive departures, and the company's prior efforts to sell itself. Vice was among a group of rapidly growing digital media outlets that targeted millennial audiences and once had lofty valuations. Along with peers like Buzzfeed, Vice stumbled as advertising profits fell and interest rates rose. This happened as the company was accruing interest on its significant debt load.

Funding

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