Vice Media is expected to be acquired out of bankruptcy for $225 million

Vice Media is expected to be acquired out of bankruptcy for $225million by a cohort of lenders led by its main creditor Fortress Investment Group.

The sale will be presented to bankruptcy court on Friday and the deal is expected to close then, the group announced in an internal memo on Thursday.

'Our lenders, including Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, made a binding bid for the company, which served as a backstop if no other bids were deemed superior to theirs,' read the memo.

'While we received multiple bids for the company, none of the other bids rose to the level of being deemed a superior bid.' 

The $225million price tag of the media company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, is a dramatic reduction from its 2017 valuation of a whopping $5.7billion. The company oversees a number of assets including Vice News, Vice Studios, Refinery29 and an ad agency called Virtue.

Vice Media, which last month entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is due to be bought out for $225million. Pictures are its headquarters in Venice, California

Bankruptcy filings issued in May noted that Fortress (CEO left) was Vice's biggest creditor and owed the company around $475 million. Pictured is its CEO Peter L. Briger, Jr. Privately-owned media group GoDigital (CEO right) was hoping to buy it for something in the region of between $300million and $350million

Privately-owned media group GoDigital was hoping to buy it for something in the region of between $300million and $350million, Axios reported on Wednesday.

GoDigital Media told DailyMail.com in an emailed statement that it made a higher bid for Vice but the offer was turned down by the sellers.

'Ours was the best plan,' a spokesperson for the company said. 

'Our offer was significantly more than the stalking horse bid by the sellers. Our approach included a concrete plan with real, renewed leadership, expertise, and investment that would have led to a profitable Vice in under 12 months,' it added.

Fortress previously managed US newspaper groups including Gannett and GateHouse Media. 

The decision to sell to Fortress, which it called the 'stalking horse bidder', came after Vice opted out of accepting higher bids that were not deemed to be 'superior'.

A previous bankruptcy appointment originally scheduled for Thursday was canceled as the parties reached the tentative agreement. 

'We are presenting the sale for approval by the bankruptcy court tomorrow, and expect the transaction to close on or around Friday July 7th,' read the memo.

Vice's tentative deal with Fortress comes well before its June 7 deadline, at which point it was predicted to run out of the cash it needs to operate.

The deal once through, Vice says, will mark an important milestone in reaching financial stability. 

The 53-year-old Shane Smith was one of Vice's three founders. He told The Wall Street Journal in 2016 the company  could be worth $50billion in a few years. The deal announced on Thursday values it at a mere $225million

At its peak, Vice had 3,000 employees across the globe, with a cable network, two HBO shows, and more than a dozen websites

At its peak, Vice had 3,000 employees across the globe, with a cable network, two HBO shows, and more than a dozen websites.

It also managed an ad agency, a film studio, a record label, and a bar in London.

In 2016, it was valued at $5.7billion and one its founders, Shane Smith, boasted to The Wall Street Journal that by the end of the decade, the company could be worth $50billion.

In 2012, shortly before Fox bought a 5 percent stake in the company, Rupert Murdoch tweeted: 'Who's heard of Vice Media? Wild, interesting effort to interest millennials who don't read or watch established media. Global success.'

In 2014, the BBC published an article asking whether the 'big bear of a Canadian' would be the next Rupert Murdoch.

A year later, Disney announced a $400million investment in Vice before the launch of Viceland, its own TV channel.

Bankruptcy filings issued in May noted that Fortress was Vice's biggest creditor and owed the company around $475 million.