The Asian recruitment market will soon see a new powerhouse in the sector. This will all be majority-owned by Seek Ltd, the Australia based Job Board giant. Seek is buying the 78 percent of the JobStreet Corp that it doesn’t currently own. It will merge JobStreet and JobsDB (in which it already owns a majority stake).
The announcement also came at the same time that Seek announced its results for the second half of 2013. The company is maintaining a compound annual growth rate of nearly 40 percent, with annual revenue of a$720.5 million ($651.3 U.S.) Its shares soared on news of the record profits, hitting a new all-time high of a$16.00.
The JobStreet deal is subject to approval by its shareholders and by regulators in Singapore. It was unclear which brand name would survive. Both JobStreet and JobsDB have roughly similar levels of revenue, with JobStreet at A$56.2 million and JobsDB at A$51.3 million. JobStreet operates in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, while JobsDB operates in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Seek also owns 78.2 percent of Zhaopin, a leading recruitment site in China.
JobStreet and JobsDB have competed in several markets and have competed aggressively even though they had some shared ownership. Adrian Chng, CEO of JobsDB, told Digital News Asia last year that it would compete aggressively with JobStreet: “If anyone can beat Goliath, it’s us,” he said. “I mean, we’re big, mean and nasty in Asia — we have the ability to invest in R&D and we have the way to do sales and marketing.”
Seek CEO and co-founder, Andrew Bassat said the company, which saw great growth in its international and education sectors during H2, would continue its focus on Asian businesses. “In the near term, we expect revenue residing in Asia to comprise over 50 percent of SEEK’s overall revenue. This further cements SEEK as a global leader in online employment. “The focus for JobStreet and JobsDB is to help job-seekers find the most relevant career opportunities and hirers to find the most relevant candidates. Seek is excited that both businesses will make a large and positive contribution to people’s lives and assist in Asia’s ongoing economic growth.”
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