Monster snaps up German job site

Monster Worldwide, parent company of Monster.com, announced plans to acquire a German job site in a deal valued at roughly $105 million.

The New York-based company on Friday said it is purchasing career portal JobPilot from the e-HR Services division of Adecco Group. Under terms of the deal, Monster will pay $57 million in cash and 1 million shares of Monster Worldwide worth around $29 million based on Friday's trading price. Monster also will make an additional cash payment of $18.9 million toward JobPilot's working capital.

Monster hopes that the latest deal will strengthen its position in Europe and give it access to several important markets in the region.

JobPilot has an online presence in 11 European countries. In 2003, it generated $28 million in revenue. JobPilot's regular customers include about 30 companies listed in Germany's Dax share index and 21 companies in the EuroStoxx 50 share index.

Monster claims some 40 million members worldwide. At the end of last year, it announced plans to invest $125 million in marketing and advertising during 2004 to boost traffic.