Mashable has closed its Asia-Pacific office in Singapore amid further retrenchments worldwide following the completion of its sale to US publisher Ziff Davis.
Reports of the US$50 million deal—a fifth of Mashable’s US$250 million valuation just two years ago—began circulating last month, with talk rife about laying off staff to stem the publication’s significant losses. Around 30% of global employees have been made redundant, which accounts for 50 people, according to reports.
News about the Singapore office was confirmed yesterday by Victoria Ho, Mashable APAC editor, who took to Twitter to inform the wider public. Reporter Yvette Tan and head of sales Meng Lye Liu made up the rest of the APAC team.
As for me, I can't thank my timezone buddies more for the warmest work environment. You don't know how much I'll miss it. Best boss @TheRealKSD and thank you @nycjim and @AmandaWills for hiring me to start things 2.5 years ago. Truly grateful.
— Victoria Ho (@vickiho) December 6, 2017
Gwendolyn Regina, Mashable’s former director of strategy and business development for APAC, left the publication in August. Just a few weeks later reports emerged that the struggling company was seeking a buyer.
Mashable began as a blog in 2005 created by founder Peter Cashmore, and become one of the fastest growing digital publications in the world. But, like so many digital outfits, it has struggled to maintain readership, and in 2016 posted a net loss of US$10 million despite revenue growing 36% to US$42 million.
Following the deal’s completion, Ziff Davis said it would offer jobs to the laid-off Mashable employees at its other publications.
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