Global staffing provider Randstad Holding nv agreed to acquire Monster Worldwide Inc. for an enterprise value of approximately $429 million.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Randstad agreed to commence a tender offer through a wholly-owned subsidiary to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Monster common stock for $3.40 per share in cash. Monster will continue operating as a separate and independent entity under the Monster name.
Randstad intends to use Monster’s recruiting media, technologies, and platforms to expand its services to offer tools for increased efficiency and engagement.
“With advances in technology and the maturity of the buyer community, program managers have new options for engaging talent in addition to the traditional way of sending their requisitions to their supplier base,” says Dawn McCartney, CCWP, director, contingent workforce strategies and research. “Recognizing this, staffing providers are looking to diversify and expand their services to better serve their clients. Randstad’s acquisition of Monster is an example of the increasing scope of the workforce solutions ecosystem.”
The deal follows significant earlier consolidation among major job boards. Last month, Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd., one of the world’s largest staffing firms and the parent company of job search site Indeed, acquired the assets of job search engine Simply Hired. And in June, Microsoft Corp. agreed to acquire LinkedIn Corp. in transaction valued at $26.2 billion.
Monster ranks No. 5 on Staffing Industry Analysts’ list of largest job boards globally, based on 2015 annual revenue. While the global job board market grew at an estimated 11% in 2015, Monster’s revenue declined by 13%. Recruit, which operates a number of other large Asian job boards as well as Indeed, holds the top spot on the list, followed respectively by LinkedIn, Seek and TEGNA Inc., which operates CareerBuilder, among other sites.
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