StyleHaul Ends US Operations and Launches About 65 Employees – Variety

StyleHaul: RTL Group's fashion, beauty and lifestyle digital marketing and media company closes its doors in the United States, laying off nearly 65 employees.

The offices of StyleHaul in Los Angeles, with about 55 employees, and New York, with about 10 employees, are closing.

RTL said that StyleHaul operations in the UK, led by Giles Drew, would continue. Sean Atkins, the former MTV president who joined the company last year as CEO of StyleHaul and CEO of the RTL Group digital video group, will remain in the role and will split his time between the US and the UK -United.

The closing of StyleHaul's US branch comes after RTL announced last week a goodwill impairment charge related to the decline in the value of StyleHaul for the year 2018 of approximately $ 119 million (105 million euros). When RTL acquired a majority stake in StyleHaul in 2014 for $ 107 million, it valued the company at $ 151.4 million at the time.

StyleHaul, like many of his digital video peers, simply could not maintain his profitability – becoming the latest victim of the industry. In January, Otter Media of AT & T dissolved Machinima, one of the pioneers of YouTube multichannel networks. Last fall, Defy Media, of which Smosh and Clevver were one of the brands, closed down last fall without warning, after failing to secure financing or to find a buyer.

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At one point, StyleHaul had collaborated with leading digital influencers, including Cameron Dallas, Zoella, Joey Graceffa, Fleur De Force, Joe Sugg and Dulce Candy, as part of original content development and other projects. Last year, RTL claimed that the StyleHaul network had more than 5,000 digital influencers creating content that attracted more than 60 million unique viewers and generated more than 2.5 billion views per month.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for StyleHaul said, "The StyleHaul management team and board have made the decision to close StyleHaul's US offices and manage all global operations in Europe. The reorganization will allow StyleHaul to benefit from closer collaboration with other companies within RTL Group's Digital Video Group, strengthening its ability to deliver quality cross-platform digital video marketing campaigns to customers. "

Atkins joined RTL after Stephanie Horbaczewski, former CEO of StyleHaul, who founded StyleHaul in 2011, left the company last summer.

The news of StyleHaul's shutdown in the United States was first reported by TubeFilter.

The Luxembourg-based RTL Group has interests in 60 television channels, eight VOD platforms and 30 radio stations, as well as the production company Fremantle. Other multiplatform digital networks in RTL's portfolio include BroadbandTV, Divimove, United Screens and more than 300 Fremantle-managed YouTube channels.