A report in Reuters has indicated that LinkedIn is among a handful of potential companies expressing interest in purchasing all or some of Monster Worldwide. According to sources close to the situation, LinkedIn and Silver Lake Partners are two of “a broad range of strategic and financial buyers” who are weighing Monster as a potential acquisition target.
According to the report, the company plans to send out more detailed financial information by the end of next week to potential buyers.
Monster Worldwide shares are up over 15% in late-day trading in reaction to the report.
Back in March, Monster CEO and Board Chairman Sal Iannuzzi said, “At a certain price, anything’s for sale.” As to the buyer, Iannuzzi told Bloomberg it is less important and he said at the time, “The real issue is we know we have value, and we know we can go around and look for opportunities to get that.”
That was before a rare bright spot for the company in recent months.
Two weeks ago, Monster released its first quarter results that doubled analyst’s earnings expectations. That too sent shares soaring but only for a short time.
An acquisition by LinkedIn has been rumored (fairly unsubstantially I might add) as Monster’s stock price continued to deflate. The social network for professionals competes directly with some of Monster’s products (notably the job posting and resume search business) but some Monster’s other technologies like the semantic search product SeeMore and Facebook networking platform BeKnown might be an attractive piece in addition to an influx new customers.
