Randstad Holdings acquires US rival Monster.com
What's the story
World's second largest human resources and recruitment firm, Amsterdam-based Randstad Holdings has announced it would acquire its US-based rival Monster.com. According to the agreement, Randstad would buy Monster Worldwide by paying $3.40 per Monster share in cash or a total of approximately $429 million. Randstad's Monster bid follows its purchase of US-based placement innovator startup RiseSmart for $100 million in Sep'15.
Introduction
About Monster.com
US-based Monster.com is one of the most popular and largest employment websites in the world. It was founded in 1999 by Jeff Taylor after the merger of 'The Monster Board' and 'Online Career Centre'. The online employment service helps people to find and post job vacancies from lower-level to mid-level. Monster's database reportedly covers over 50,000 employers; the company is active in 40 countries.
Monster's Journey
Monster in its heyday
After making its debut, Monster went public in 2000 and came a long way to established itself as one of the most popular online job finding website. In its heyday, Monster's share price was over $91 with a market capitalization of more than $8 million. It was America's third most visited website in 2013. Monster acquisitions include Affinity Labs, Trovix, and Jobr among others.
Quote
Randstad CEO Jacques van den Broek's statement
"With its industry leading technology platform and easy to use digital, social and mobile solutions, Monster is a natural complement to Randstad. We look forward to welcoming the Monster team and working together to shape the evolving global job industry."
Randstad's Strategy
Deal aligned with Randstad's growth strategy
Randstad said the deal is aligned with its growth strategy; it reflects the commitment to bring labor supply and demand close together. Monster will reportedly keep its brand and operate separately. Randstad's idea was to consolidate various aspects of the industry for a better HR services portfolio as employers are "challenged to identify better ways to source and engage talent" in this era.
Necessary Move
Deal with Randstad is important: Monster
On 8 Jun'16, Monster acquired San Francisco-based startup Jobr "Tinder for Jobs" job finding app. For the 17-year-old Monster, the move is necessary to combine itself with an adjacent strategic business while others in the business are dominating it in the recruitment industry. Monster said the deal with Randstad Holdings was significant as it offered immediate value to its shareholders.
Quote
Monster CEO Tim Yates' statement
"Joining Randstad provides a unique opportunity to accelerate our ability to connect more people to more jobs. Together with Randstad, Monster will be better positioned to fulfill our core mission, and our employees will benefit from becoming part of a larger, more diversified company."
Randstad-Monster deal
The deal allows Randstad to expand online
Monster primarily focuses on its online job finding website while Randstad focuses on its recruitment centers. Randstad reportedly has about 4,500 branches worldwide and has placed over 2 million job seekers so far. The Randstad-Monster deal, which is one of the most significant M&A deals in the online recruitment sector, would give Randstad Holdings an online component to expand itself.