H&Q-backed JobKorea put up for sale Foreign strategic investors are also paying strong attention to the online recruiting platform
Translated by Ryu Ho-joung 공개 2020-03-02 08:00:26
이 기사는 2020년 03월 02일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.
South Korea’s number one job portal JobKorea is drawing strong attention from potential buyers, not only at home but also abroad, as soon as it was put up for sale.Seoul-based PE firm H&Q Korea has put its JobKorea up for sale and hired Morgan Stanley to run an auction for the company, sources familiar with the matter said on February 26.
JobKorea is the country’s number one online recruiting company, maintaining the largest market share for years. Its business model is to match job-seekers with employers and its revenue mainly comes from advertising. With a strong brand image and the high level of customer loyalty, it generates stable cash flow, which is seen to be highly attractive to potential buyers.
JobKorea also operates part-time job portal Albamon and gaming job portal Gamejob. Demand for part-time employees is on the rise in the country in an increasingly flexible labor market and the online recruitment market is also expected to grow at a stable pace, all of which could work in favor of H&Q’s planned sale of the company.
Founded in 1996 with a capital of 50 million won, JobKorea was acquired by Monster Worldwide in 2005 in a deal that valued the company at about 100 billion won. H&Q bought the entire stake owned by the U.S. online recruitment company in 2013.
Industry watchers expect that the company could be targeted by its industry peers from other regions, especially those looking to expand their business to South Korea and further to other Asian countries. According to data from another local online recruiting company Saramin HR, South Korea’s online recruitment market has almost doubled in size for the past four years to 256 billion won in 2018. Strong interest from foreign strategic investors would help propel valuation of the company during an auction process.
Domestic strategic investors – particularly platform companies such as messaging app giant Kakao – may also set their sights on an acquisition of JobKorea, seeking for perceived synergies with their existing big data platform.
Domestic and global PE firms, with plenty of dry powder on hand, are among potential bidders, too. Indeed, several PE firms reportedly tapped H&Q for a possible sale of the company even before it was officially put on the market.
“The company looks especially attractive in terms of strong cash flow and growth prospects,” an industry insider said. “Characteristics of its customers, such as the level of loyalty, compared to those of other platforms will likely be key to valuation for the company.”
(By reporter Kim Hye-ran)
< 저작권자 ⓒ 자본시장 미디어 'thebell', 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지 >
관련기사
best clicks
최신뉴스 in 전체기사
-
- [태영건설 워크아웃]계속기업가치 1.1조 vs 청산가치 1조
- '업스테이지 투자' 미래에셋벤처, AI포트만 2000억 '베팅'
- 주관사단 '몸집 줄인' 롯데, 미매각 부담 덜어냈나
- [Korean Paper]외평채 벤치마크 '물음표'…통화 다각화로 돌파할까
- [Korean Paper]'중동+고금리' 리스크에 하나은행 선방했다
- [HD현대마린솔루션 IPO]HD현대중공업 데자뷔, '삼성·대신증권' 인수단 포함
- 하이스틸, 미국발 훈풍 타고 성장 기대감
- 셀론텍, 중국에 테라필 의료기기 등록 신청
- 제이스코홀딩스 "필리핀 다나가트 광산 니켈 채굴 임박"
- 폴라리스오피스, 위레이저와 '해운물류 문서 AI 혁신' 맞손