Online recruitment firm Monster Worldwide explores sale

Online recruitment company Monster Worldwide Inc whose share price has fallen 52 per cent since the past twelve months, rose yesterday by 15 per cent after its CEO said that the company was considering "strategic alternatives'', including selling itself.

"Our shareholders deserve a better return," Monster CEO, Sal Iannuzzi yesterday said at an investor conference in Boston. "The board and the management is also focused on pursuing all strategic alternatives to increase shareholder value."

MWW, which make money when employers post job advertisements and allows them to search resumes on its sites such as Monster.com, has hired Stone Key Partners and Merrill Lynch to review strategic alternatives.

New York-based Monster, which competes with LinkedIn and CareerBuilder and was valued at more than $7.5 billion in 2006, is currently worth $969 million. It also has more than $250 million in cash, and $188.8 million debt.

With its stock price not being where it should be, a strategic buyer may pay $14 to $15 a share, valuing the company at around $1.85 billion, which would be a premium of 80 per cent to Monster's closing price of $8.33 yesterday, according to analysts.

But it may not fetch that valuation unless its stock price moves higher in the coming days or weeks, add analysts.