Vice Media restructures, reduces staffing after emerging from bankruptcy

Bruce Dixon (left) and Hozefa Lokhandwala

Vice Media Group is implementing a corporate restructure and reducing its headcount roughly three months after it was acquired out of bankruptcy by a group of its former lenders.

In a memo to staff on Thursday, co-CEOs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala said the media company will reduce its five distinct lines of business to two.

One of these will be dedicated to studios, television and distribution and will include Vice Studios Group (which consists of Vice Studios and London-based Pulse Films), Vice News Films, Vice TV and its distribution operation. The other will cover publishing, news and creative services, including the creative agency Virtue and its publishing teams across entertainment and news.

The co-CEOs also said that several Vice News shows have “reached the end of their production cycle and have not been renewed with distributors as of yet,” causing them to be wound down and staff to be laid off.

The cuts are reported to have impacted fewer than 100 staff. However, Dixon and Lokhandwala said the company is not leaving the news business. “To be clear, Vice News is not going away. Vice will continue to produce digital news, as well as Vice News documentaries, both series and films, for FAST Channels, streaming services and other partners,” they said.

The transition to two main operating units will allow the company to “work more effectively towards our shared creative and business goals, better align our people and resources, and allow us to capitalise on the unique opportunities that lie ahead,” said the co-CEOs.

“The combined business units provide a more cohesive, collaborative and focused structure that will enable us to better amplify our content across multiple products and distribution opportunities. It will also allow us to streamline our overall corporate infrastructure, reducing overhead across the business.”

Vice Media is continuing to undertake a “market review” that it said might lead to the closure of its operations in certain countries or markets.

In August, a consortium of lenders led by Fortress Investment Group and including Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital acquired Vice Media Group out of bankruptcy for US$350m.

The acquisition, which was approved by a bankruptcy court in New York, involved all of the company’s assets including Vice Studios, Vice TV, Refinery29, Vice.com and Pulse Films.

The co-CEOs added in their memo: “This is a difficult period for media at large, as evidenced by all the restructurings and changes across the sector. We aren’t immune to these challenges. But our strategic moves today will help our business become nimble enough to adjust to continuous change, allowing VMG to continue to serve our consumers, partners and distributors while putting ourselves in a place to weather the current market.”