TeamLease to acquire 30% stake in jobs portal Freshersworld

By Keshav Sunkara

  • 29 May 2017
Credit: Thinkstock

Staffing firm TeamLease Services Ltd has agreed to acquire a 30% stake in Bengaluru-based Cassius Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs job site Freshersworld, in an all-cash deal.

The deal involves the purchase of both primary and secondary shares, TeamLease said in a stock market filing. It implies an enterprise value of Rs 18 crore pre-money and Rs 20 crore post-money.

The jobs site for freshers will use the capital to enhance the product features and back-end technology.

The acquisition of additional stake in Freshersworld is linked to its future performance and product milestones over the next three years.

“The partnership with Teamlease will allow us to create a formidable force with enhanced product offerings in building databases, online job matching, assessments and background verification,” said Joby Joseph, the founder and CEO of Freshersworld.

The jobs portal reported total income of Rs 5.10 crore and a net profit of Rs 39 lakh for 2015-16. It has a database of nearly one crore resumes and it is among the top five hiring portals in India based on Alexa traffic ranking, the filing said.

The company was founded in 2005 by Joby Joseph and Jaisy Augustin, who own an 80% and 20% stake, respectively. Joseph is an IIM Bangalore alumnus and is the CEO of the company.

TeamLease is looking to expand its business operations through this deal. The company, which has been operating since 2002, mainly offers temping services where it provides temporary workforce to its clients in bulk on a contract. This allows clients to hire without adding to their direct employee base. This employment and business model is closely associated with sectors like manufacturing, banking, BPO and retail, among others. Temping also involves hiring senior-level managers on a short-term basis.

This is the fourth M&A deal by TeamLease in the past year. In January, TeamLease agreed to acquire Bengaluru-based Keystone Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd for Rs 8.2 crore.

In September last year, the company agreed to buy Bengaluru-based NichePro Technologies Pvt. Ltd for Rs 29.5 crore.

In July 2016, TeamLease agreed to acquire ASAP Info Systems for Rs 67 crore to provide recruitment services to IT companies.