After acquiring Say Media and HubPages, Maven is merging the three companies together and letting go of at least 17 staffers from Say Media and a few at HubPages.

“The reason these acquisitions make so much sense is because all three companies were essentially doing the same thing,” stated Maven CEO James Heckman. “We’re able to harvest efficiencies quickly by simply eliminating duplicative costs. The merger between three companies is time-consuming and complicated, but the integration is not.”

Earlier this month, Maven announced it had acquired sufficient funds to buy Say Media and its assets, as well as complete its merger of HubPages, which it bought earlier this year.

The three digital media companies all provide proprietary technology, monetization and distribution for third-party content providers.
Say Media founder Matt Sanchez will leave the company after the transition.

A spokesperson told Publishers Daily that layoffs were made across all three companies, but Say Media had the largest staff and therefore the most cuts.

Chief Operating Officer and former HubPages CEO-founder Paul Edmondson will remain at the company, as will Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Panzer, formerly Say Media's vice president of global marketing and brand development, and Chief Product Officer Ben Trott, formerly Say Media's vice president of engineering.

Maven says the cuts helped it shave off $5 million in operating costs and that is is on track to hit its $30 million run rate goal this year.

The cuts, made two weeks ago, impacted Say Media’s creative studio, development, engineering, sales and administrative departments, according to Business Insider, which first reported the news.

Say Media’s Toronto and London offices have closed, and some employees in its New York, San Francisco and Portland offices were let go.
The company expects the Say Media deal to close in September.

Maven claims it offers publishers a reach of more than 90 million monthly readers and includes 300 channels with 6,000 writers.
Maven’s publisher partners include the Human Rights Foundation, The Intellectualist, Blue Lives Matter and The Resurgent, among others.