Media and entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney Company has paid $200m to double its stake in US-based media company Vice Media from 5% to almost 10%, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
Disney initially invested $200m in Vice last month, but spaced out the investments because it needed board approval to commit the full amount, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Originally founded in Canada in 1994 as a free magazine covering alternative culture, Vice has since grown to a worldwide media organisation providing original print, online and video content.
The investment brings the total funding raised by Vice to more than $900m in just over two years, with media and entertainment group 21st Century Fox paying $70m for a 5% stake in 2013.
A&E Networks, a broadcasting company that operates as a joint venture between Disney and media group Hearst, picked up a 10% share for $250m in August 2014 as part of a deal that will involve one of its channels, a History Channel spin-off called H2, being rebranded to a Vice-run channel called Viceland in February 2016.
Technology Crossover Ventures provided another $250m in equity funding for the company in early September 2014. Advertising agency WPP acquired a stake in Vice in 2011 but has not disclsed the size of its investment.
Another media and entertainment provider, Time Warner, had reportedly been considering an investment in Vice for some time, but instead opted for a deal whereby Vice will create a daily news show for one of its cable channels, HBO. Vice has produced a weekly documentary show for HBO since 2013.
Vice will spend the cash on strengthening its online and mobile platforms, international expansion and programming for Viceland, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.
The company has lined up a raft of new programming for the channel that wis being overseen by Academy Award-nominated film director Spike Jonze, including shows that will be presented by actors Ellen Page and Michael K Williams, journalist Thomas Morton and rapper Action Bronson.
– Image courtesy of Vice Media