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Vice Media Media

Vice receives $450m investment to build out video capabilities

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By Minda Smiley | Reporter

June 19, 2017 | 2 min read

Vice has received a $450m investment from private equity firm TPG, a deal that boosts the media brand’s valuation to $5.7bn.

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Vice has received a $450m investment from private equity firm TPG

The funding will help the media company launch and finance Vice Studios, a division that will produce scripted multiscreen programming. The investment will also be used to build out over-the-top and direct-to-consumer video offerings.

“Media is probably at its most dynamic, most evolutionary time in its history. With Facebook and Google taking an ever-growing piece of the online advertising pie, looming ‘skinny bundles’ and over-the-top/direct-to-consumer offerings exploding the media status quo - networks have to be nimble, smart and fast moving,” said Shane Smith, founder and chief executive of Vice, in a statement. “This will allow us to: build up the largest millennial video library in the world - enabling Vice to widen our offering to include; news, food, music, fashion, art, travel, gaming, lifestyle, scripted and feature films.”

Brooklyn-based Vice, whose sites include Broadly, Noisey and Motherboard, has made a big push into video in recent years. Last year, Vice acquired global production studio Pulse Films to bolster its programming capabilities. In 2015, Vice partnered with A+E Networks to launch Viceland, a 24-hour cable channel.

Earlier this year, Vice signed a deal with Snapchat to produce original series exclusively for the popular platform.

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