TPG-backed Vice Media Targets Valuation of Nearly $3bn in Proposed SPAC Deal

Under a proposed deal to merge with blank-check company 7GC & Co Holdings Inc., Vice would remove one of the biggest obstacles it has faced, onerous financial obligations to private-equity investor TPG, people familiar with the matter said.

The proposed transaction, valued at nearly $3bn including debt, would leave existing shareholders—including TPG, Walt Disney Co. , A&E Networks Group, merchant bank Raine Group and founder Shane Smith—with a combined 75% ownership of the company, the people said. The rest of the company would be owned by Vice’s new investors.

The nearly $3bn valuation under consideration would be a discount compared with the $5.7bn valuation set in Vice Media’s last major equity-investment round, a $450m infusion from TPG in 2017.

7GC & Co Holdings, which was founded by tech investor Jack Leeney, is preparing to pitch institutional investors on the deal beginning this week, the people said. The blank-check company is hoping to complete the deal this summer, depending on how long it takes the Securities and Exchange Commission to review it.