Adecco, Staying or Going?

[zoo]

Adecco -- I want to see it on top of the old Independent Life Bldg, as this would be more evidence that Jax is a global city!

If they go suburban, I'll cry in my Frosted Flakes and add it to the JEDC/COJ failure list with FL Coastal School of Law, Deutsche Bank, The Art Institute, etc...

Anyone know anything about if they will stay or go?

[urbanlibertarian]

From bloomberg.com:


Adecco to Buy MPS Staffing Business for $1.3 Billion (Update5)
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By Matthias Wabl

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Adecco SA, the world’s largest supplier of temporary workers, agreed to buy MPS Group Inc. for about $1.3 billion in cash to place legal, computer, finance and health-care specialists in the U.S., Canada and Britain.

MPS Group, based in Jacksonville, Florida, has been expanding in areas where staff has become specialized and more difficult to find. Adecco is offering $13.80 per share in cash, a 24 percent premium over MPS’s last closing price before it jumped 21 percent to $13.52 as of 6:05 p.m. in Zurich.

The purchase “is giving us an important footprint in the higher-margin market for professional staffing,” Patrick De Maeseneire, Adecco’s chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview. Economic conditions have “improved” in the third quarter, and the purchase will help the company get revenue from different regions, he said.

Glattbrugg, Switzerland-based Adecco is preparing for a resumption of economic growth as companies consider adding temporary workers rather than full-time staff. MPS generates higher fees than its peers as companies in health-care, legal and finance are willing to pay more to find specialized staff.

MPS is Adecco’s fourth takeover target since last month as it attempts to expand its presence in the market for highly skilled workers, reducing the company’s dependence on blue- collar professions by adding revenue in the U.S. and U.K. where the markets for temporary staff are larger than in continental Europe.

No More Purchases

Adecco will focus on integrating the purchases in the coming two years “and has no plans for major acquisitions,” De Maeseneire said. The purchase boosts Adecco’s revenue from professional staffing to about 25 percent of the total from a current level of 17 percent. In 2008, MPS reported revenue of 1.5 billion euros ($2.25 billion).

MPS’s board of directors unanimously recommended Adecco’s proposed offer, and the purchase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2010. Adecco expects the purchase to add to adjusted earnings-per-share from the first year.

The transaction will be financed by Adecco’s current cash reserves and a planned 900 million-Swiss franc ($890.5 million) mandatory convertible bond. The company aims to keep an “investment grade,” rating, it said.

Downgrade

Standard & Poor’s said it placed Adecco’s BBB long-term corporate credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications following the purchase, and Moody’s downgraded the company by one notch to Baa3.

Adecco fell 5.3 percent to 51.7 francs in Zurich as the additional shares from the convertible bond will dilute earnings-per-share. The purchase also “looks expensive,” at first sight, according to Kepler Equities analyst Fabian Baumann. Adecco is paying 26 times 2009 expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, he said.

The offer price is “fair” given the potential of the business and the multiple looks high as this year’s earnings are depressed because of the economic environment, according to Adecco’s Chief Financial Officer Dominik de Daniel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthias Wabl in Zurich at mwabl@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 20, 2009 12:14 EDT


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aRy.KBVZeadc#

[reednavy]

It is likely Adecco will merge with the office space that MPS already has. Even though this is a merger, the new company will likely have to repurchase naming rights.

[mtraininjax]

I think they stay downtown, MPS employs 375 people or so, now in the building and has a large presence, and has from its Accustaff (and Derek Dewan scandals) days. The mayor and council should work like HECK to keep them there.

[Seraphs]

I think they stay downtown, MPS employs 375 people or so, now in the building and has a large presence, and has from its Accustaff (and Derek Dewan scandals) days. The mayor and council should work like HECK to keep them there.

Hopefully they will stay downtown, however, as for the mayor and council working like heck to keep them, I won't hold my breath.