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Vice Media is expecting to miss a 2022 revenue goal by more than $100 million, according to people familiar with the situation, a blow for the new-media company as it pursues a sale.
The company presented a revenue target of over $700 million at an off-site with senior employees earlier this year, one of the people said. The expected shortfall would leave Vice with around $600 million in revenue for the year, roughly flat compared with 2021, the people said.
The anticipated revenue miss comes as the company has been in talks for months to sell itself to Greek broadcaster Antenna Group. The two companies are partners on Vice’s push into international news.
Vice has sought a valuation of around $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the sale process. The expected 2022 revenue miss could make it harder for the company to fetch that price.
Vice Media is expecting to see “significant growth” in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, as well as cash flow, from 2021 to 2022, according to a company spokesman.
“It’s been a challenging year for our industry, but VICE is growing year to year through strong financial discipline and focus,” said the spokesman. “Our ongoing performance is creating new opportunities for VICE in 2023 and working with our advisors, we’ll keep exploring ways to position the company for growth and success.”
Vice Media is led by Chief Executive Nancy Dubuc, a former A+E Networks executive.
Photo:
Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg News
Vice Media, whose assets include Vice News, Motherboard, female-focused Refinery29 and Vice TV, was among a handful of media startups that raised money at high valuations several years ago, at a time when eyeballs and ad dollars were shifting toward digital media. The company was valued at $5.7 billion five years ago.
Sustaining fast growth proved difficult amid competition from online-ad giants such as Google and Facebook, and other new-media outfits with similar business models. In recent months, all publishers have been contending with tough macroeconomic conditions that have spurred some advertisers to pull back spending.
Vice’s bills are piling up. The company had raised $250 million in debt in 2019 from a group of investors including Fortress Investment Group. That debt has come due, according to the people familiar with the situation.
Fortress is currently working with Vice on a framework to restructure its debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Also, Vice is several months behind on payments to a number of its vendors, according to other people familiar with the matter.
Given the financial pressures, Vice’s principal investor, private-equity firm TPG, may need to decide soon whether to continue to fund the media company, if the deal with Antenna doesn’t materialize. One option being discussed is to continue to cut costs and then attempt to sell Vice in parts, according to some of the people familiar with the situation.
Vice Media is led by Chief Executive
Nancy Dubuc.
The former A+E Networks executive took over after co-founder Shane Smith stepped down as Vice’s CEO in 2018, saying he wanted to focus more on content and deals.
Vice has struggled to consistently turn a profit and its revenue has been relatively flat in recent years. Over the past few weeks, Vice has laid off staffers, including employees at its Munchies and Noisey brands, as part of wider cost cuts of up to 15%, according to people familiar with the matter.
Last year, the company tried to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, but that effort ended when investor interest in those blank-check companies faded.
Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com and Jessica Toonkel at jessica.toonkel@wsj.com
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