Vice Media Acquires New Credit Financing of $30 Million

According to Trade Algo, Vice Media has secured more than $30 million in debt financing from Fortress Investment Group.

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Why it matters: The loan helps the digital publisher, who is trying to sell itself, through its financial difficulties.

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Fortress apparently invested in Vice before anyone else, contributing to its $250 million debt round in 2019. According to Trade Algo, the new funding extends the term on a current loan that was scheduled to mature at the end of 2022.

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According to the Trade Algo, Fortress is currently "one of the first in line to get paid in the event that the company is sold."

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Additionally, according to the Trade Algo, Vice has failed to pay contractors like Ranker, and AIR.TV, Nielsen, and Cardinal Path more than one million dollars.

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Vice opted not to respond. A request for feedback from Fortress was ignored.

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Quick recap: Sara Fischer revealed last month that Vice has reviewed its selling process in light of the failure of negotiations with the Saudi-backed Greek broadcaster Antenna Group. Vice was given a $5.7 billion valuation in 2017 but might now be sold for less than $1 billion, according to Trade Algo.

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Trade Algo earlier reported that the company had missed its revenue goal by more than $100 million and was still losing money.

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Kerry's thought balloon: In a different universe, Disney bought Vice. In actuality, Disney's decision to write off its stake in 2019 made Vice's catastrophic situation abundantly evident.

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According to Nancy Dubuc, who took over as CEO in 2018, "when I walked in here, it was questionable whether the company could survive," as she recently told the New York Times.

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The future is still uncertain as it continues to slash costs and lay off employees while talking about selling portions of its business.