Randstad to Buy Monster Worldwide for $429 Million--Update
August 09 2016 - 9:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker and Jana Simmons
Randstad Holding NV said Tuesday it agreed to buy Monster
Worldwide Inc. for $429 million--snapping up a pioneer of the
online job-posting industry and bolstering the Dutch recruitment
giant's position in the U.S.
Monster, based in Weston, Mass., pushed into the then-nascent
business of digital recruiting in 1994, and now offers staffing
services in more than 40 countries. But in recent years, it, too,
has become more of a traditional player.
It has struggled to keep up with an onslaught of competitors,
including niche, online job boards. Recruiters have also gravitated
to networking sites like LinkedIn Corp., which connects companies,
recruiters and employees, who may or may not be looking for jobs
right away.
Upon completion of the deal, Monster will delist from the New
York Stock Exchange, and operate as a separate entity under
Randstad. It will retain the Monster brand. The deal is subject to
regulatory approval and other conditions.
Randstad said it agreed to pay $3.40 a share for Monster, a 23%
premium to its closing stock price on Monday. The Dutch company
said it would finance the deal through existing credit facilities
and expects to complete it in the fourth quarter of this year. The
transaction will immediately add to Randstad per-share earnings,
the company said.
After the deal, Monster "will be better positioned to fulfill
our core mission, and our employees will benefit from becoming part
of a larger, more diversified company," said Monster Chief
Executive Tim Yates.
Randstad ranks itself as the second-largest, human-resources
services provider in the world, behind Switzerland's Adecco Group
AG. It offers a range of placement and job-search services,
including a network of walk-in job placement branches.
It is a smaller player in the U.S., however, where it competes
with ManpowerGroup. Randstad generated revenue of EUR19.2 billion
($21.3 billion) in 2015, but only EUR4.7 billion of that came from
North America.
It has recently used deal making to push into the U.S. In
September, it agreed to pay $100 million for U.S. startup
RiseSmart, which provides job placement analytics.
It has been on an acquisition tear of late elsewhere. Earlier
this year, it bought Obiettivo Lavoro, an Italian recruiting agency
for EUR102.5 million and Japan's Careo Group, a temporary-staffing
provider, for an undisclosed sum. It is also in the process of
completing a EUR420 million purchase of French rival Ausy SA.
On Tuesday, it said it would now reduce the pace of M&A and
focus on integrating recent acquisitions. It expects to limit
acquisition spend in the medium term to around EUR100 million.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com and Jana Simmons at
Jana.Simmons@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 09, 2016 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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