Note: This article was updated to reflect information from industry sources regarding the CareerBuilder sales price.
Big news at CareerBuilder this week. The company has a new sugar daddy.
As reported on ERE, “a Canadian pension fund and private equity firm Apollo Global Management announced today that is buying a majority share of CareerBuilder. The price was not disclosed, but various calculations put the cash value between $600 million and $654 million, though industry sources placed the pricetag at $500 million.”
To announce the news internally, CEO Matt Ferguson sent out the following message:
From: Matt Ferguson
To: CareerBuilder GlobalAnnouncement on CareerBuilder’s New Owners
Today marks one of the most exciting and important days in CareerBuilder’s history. I’m sure many of you have already seen the press release, but I’m happy to officially announce that Apollo Global Management and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan acquired a majority interest in CareerBuilder.
Both of these companies are powerhouses that invest in the biggest B2B and consumer brands in the world. Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager in private equity, credit, and real estate. Their assets under management total $197 billion and include Caesars Entertainment, Norwegian Cruise Line, AMC, Chuck E. Cheese’s, Hostess, ADT, GNC, Redbox and many others.
Ontario Teachers’ is Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan with $175.6 billion in net assets. They have investments in everything from Microsoft, Sony and FedEx to JPMorgan Chase and General Motors. They were really impressed with our transformation into the full HCM platform and decided to invest directly as part of the majority ownership with Apollo.
The press announcement talks about CareerBuilder’s iconic brand, our global leadership in human capital solutions, and our integrated SaaS platform. Both Apollo and Ontario Teachers’ are excited about our vision for transforming our company, and the will be very helpful in taking our business to the next level.
I’m also happy to say that TEGNA, Tribune, and McClatchy will maintain approximately 24 percent interest in CareerBulder. They have a long, successful history with CareerBuilder and will provide a helpful perspective as we move forward.
Going through the strategic review process, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about where we ultimately landed. Our new ownership will enable us to fast-track our product development, deepen our market penetration, and accelerate our growth. This is a big win for our company, our employers and our customers.
I look forward to speaking with all of you and answering your questions on tomorrow’s call. This is a fantastic opportunity for us and I can’t wait to start the next chapter in our business.
Matt
CareerBuilder is now linked to Chuck E. Cheese, Ding Dongs, Twinkies, and Ho Hos. And nothing screams core competency in the employment space like cream-filled cakes and pizza-flinging rats.
I see a bright future.
Correction: The following sentence was omitted in the original post but added, above: “Ontario Teachers’ is Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan with $175.6 billion in net assets. They have investments in everything from Microsoft, Sony and FedEx to JPMorgan Chase and General Motors.” The letter was sent to me as an image, so I had to type the content and simply overlooked that sentence. I don’t believe it fundamentally changes the message or my opinion.
