After spending the summer flirting with various suitors, Vice Media said Friday it was close to choosing a partner: A&E Networks.

A&E, which is owned by Hearst and Disney, is near a deal to invest $250 million in Vice in exchange for a roughly 10 percent stake in the company. It would value Vice — which started 20 years ago as a free magazine in Montreal — at more than $2.5 billion.

Known for its unruly sensibility and edgy news reports, Vice has established a powerful digital presence.

The investment from A&E would underscore its success in creating a brand that appeals to a new generation of consumers who have proved an elusive demograpic.

“We’ve been looking pretty much everywhere for different partners,” Shane Smith, Vice’s chief executive, said in an interview. “The biggest thing we were looking for was complete independence. Everybody wanted a majority stake or a big stake. We didn’t want to give up a big stake.”

Most recently, Vice made news with a documentary series about the Islamic State. One of its correspondents got unusual access, embedding with the extremist group.

The A&E investment, which was first reported by the Financial Times, could allow it to create more of its own content. Smith has set his sights on traditional television. His company already produces a 30-minute weekly program for HBO — “News from the edge,” is the tagline — but he’d like to eventually have a 24-hour Vice network.