Vice is moving forward with plans to launch a network in the U.S. as well as a dozen in Europe over the next year, Vice CEO Shane Smith told CNBC from London.

According to Smith, the company will work with partners in different countries and territories, such as Rogers in Canada, to create the networks and then deliver them across multiple platforms, including over-the-top, mobile and traditional TV.

“We look at it as a content creation engine where we can make a lot of content that we can then leverage to mobile and leverage online, leverage into OTT,” Smith told the business news network. “So you can actually take money from TV and put it into mobile, which is quite frankly more difficult to monetize.”

Beyond expanding, Smith also said the company remains in talks to be acquired at a valuation of $5 billion. This year, Vice is on track to near $1 billion this year and to double that over the next few years, he said.

“We’re valuable,” he told CNBC. “Right now we have a decision to make, because we’re topping out the valuation where a media company should buy us. Once we get into the next wave, it’s either the major telcos or Apple or Google. If we’re getting too expensive for media [acquisition] then, do we go public? We’re kind of at the top end where media could buy us today.”

Currently, 21st Century Fox owns 5 percent of Vice and A + E Networks also owns a small stake. Earlier this year, it was reported that Vice would replace A + E’s H2 on cable line-ups.

Read more: CNBC

Brief Take: Vice is sort of the poster child for the Wild West environment of digital video right now. Whether it gets bought and how well its expansion into networks—both domestic and global—work out will be an indicator of how content is going to evolve in this ever-changing landscape.

Image courtesy of CNBC

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