Company is ‘no longer cost-effective and will transition to studio model’: CEO Unclear how decision will impact group’s presence in Riyadh LONDON: Vice Media is set to lay off hundreds of staff and discontinue publication on its website. An internal memo leaked to the media and later confirmed by Vice CEO Bruce Dixon said that the layoffs would begin early next week. Dixon announced on Friday that the company is transitioning to a “studio model,” in a decision that was “not made lightly.” Affected employees will be “notified about next steps early next week.” The decision is a result of Vice Media’s digital content distribution no longer being cost-effective, Dixon said. The outlet will “look to partner with established media companies to distribute our digital content, including news, on their global platforms, as we fully transition to a studio model,” he added. Dixon said that Refinery29, a Vice-owned women’s lifestyle-focused site, will continue to operate independently. “Our financial partners are supportive and have agreed to invest in this operating model going forward. We will emerge stronger and more resilient as we embark on this new phase of our journey,” he added. Reports of the layoffs come less than a year after Vice Media, whose assets include Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29, i-D and Vice TV, was rescued from bankruptcy by a consortium of buyers from Fortress Investment Group. Dixon said that the group is in “advance discussions” to sell its business and expects to “announce more on that in the coming weeks.” Valued at $5.7 billion in 2017, Vice, once a prominent media company geared toward a younger audience, operated digital, television and film outlets. In January last year, the media group announced the opening of a new regional office in Riyadh in an effort to expand its presence in the Middle East. It remains unclear how the layoffs will impact the group’s presence in the Middle East. Experts say that the company employs about 900 people across all divisions.