The brand new chief govt officers of Vice Media, Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala, laid out their business technique for the embattled firm in an interview Tuesday, providing a imaginative and prescient largely similar to the one shared by their predecessor, Nancy Dubuc.
The co-CEOs, who assumed the shared position in February three days after Dubuc resigned, pressured their give attention to ideas like enterprise fundamentals, efficiencies and operational focus, dispelling any notion that their appointment will mark a shift in technique from the writer.
As an alternative, of their dedication to the course charted by their predecessor, the 2 have sought to undertaking a way of stability on an organization whose valuation has dropped steeply from its 2017 peak of $5.7 billion.
“Our position is to set the path for the corporate, align the group to that path after which drive towards that,” Dixon stated. “Vice is a family identify, and we have now to leverage off the again of that.”
The promotions of Dixon and Lokhandwala come at a defining second for the 29-year-old media firm, which has courted potential consumers aggressively over the previous six months because it contends with monetary struggles.
The beleaguered enterprise has attracted acquisition presents from a variety of potential suitors, together with the Greek broadcasting firm Antenna and, in latest days, a roughly $400 million bid from Black media collective Group Black.
Whereas the CEOs declined to supply particulars on the continued gross sales course of, quite a lot of elements recommend that their chief duty is to shepherd the corporate by means of an acquisition—not repair its ailing enterprise, stated Andrew Becks, chief working officer of media company 301 Digital.
The duo share intensive backgrounds in finance and banking, and their swift, inside appointment comes after working alongside Dubuc since 2018. Together with their unchanged business technique, these elements prime Dixon and Lokhandwala to give attention to the pressing matter of the sale at hand.
“If you put a finance and a method individual in control of an organization on the lookout for an exit, you invite a sure interpretation,” Becks stated. “The principle concern stays the essence of the model. For Vice, that model fairness is their predominant providing.”
For advertisers, the core attraction of Vice Media stays its distinct model and premium studio choices, based on Becks. To that finish, the corporate launched a new model marketing campaign on Wednesday, together with an up to date DEI report, in search of to additional underscore its model id.
