Vice Media Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in what could open the door for an acquisition by one of the media company’s largest lenders.

Filed in U.S. court on Monday (May 15), the bankruptcy also covers Vice subsidiaries and affiliate companies, such as Refinery29, creative agency Virtue Worldwide and production arms Pulse Films and Vice Studios.

Other than its namesake site, Vice’s media brands also include Motherboard, i-D and Broadly. The company is expected to operate as normal during bankruptcy proceedings, thanks to commitments for debtor-in-possession financing from its lenders and US$20 million in cash.

The bankruptcy is expected to pave the way for an acquisition by a group to which Vice Media Group has agreed to sell its assets. The consortium is led by investment management company Fortress Credit Corporation, which is Vice’s largest debt holder to the tune of US$474.7 million.

The group – which also includes Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital — has made a credit bid of US$225 million for substantially all of Vice’s assets, allowing it to swap debt rather than pay cash for the company. Assets not included in the deal include “substantially all of the company’s international entities, and the Vice TV joint venture with A&E,” according to a news release.

In bankruptcy filings, the company listed both assets and liabilities in the range of US$500 million to $1 billion. Since growing from a trendy magazine based in Montreal to a fast-rising digital media company, Vice has attracted high-profile investments from both financial firms and media giants like Disney and Fox, at one point valuing the company at US$5.7 billion.

According to filing documents, among the company’s largest debt holders is Horizon Media, which has a claim for US$2.1 million in what is described as “ad serving fees.” Other debt holders include CNN, HBO, A&E, Adobe and Amazon.

Vice has gone through several rounds of layoffs in recent years as it struggled with challenges many digital media companies have faced, which have only intensified this year amid an uncertain economic situation and low demand from advertisers across the industry. Last month, the company laid off more than 100 of its staff, primarily in its news division, resulting in ending its Vice News Tonight broadcast and disbanding its audio team.

This story originally appeared in Media in Canada