Quess Corp. has announced that it has signed definitive agreements to buy Monster India and its business in South-East Asia and the Middle East (“Monster”) from Monster Worldwide Inc. and The Care Business of HCL Services (“Care Business”) from HCL Infosystems.

According to the company, the transactions are expected to close in the next few weeks, subject to the fulfilment of customary closing conditions and required statutory approvals.
 

Monster, a leading online career and recruitment resource with its cutting-edge technology, provides relevant profiles to employers and relevant jobs to jobseekers across industry verticals, experience levels and geographies. Monster, a 20+-year-old marquee internet brand, provides the widest and most sophisticated job-seeking, career management, recruitment and talent management capabilities globally. The acquired business has operations across India, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With ~65 million registered users, over 80 million resumes and with ~800,000 monthly new registrations, the company is amongst the market leaders in the online recruitment space across each of its operating geographies.

The Care Business of HCL Services is one of the leading after-sales services providers for product categories such as mobile phones, consumer electronics and consumer durables in the customer lifecycle management space. It has an extensive service network across the country and provides end-to-end support services with more than 80 walk-in centers and 200+ authorized service providers. It has strong relationships with the leading smartphone makers and consumer durable companies with over 2 million repairs annually.

Ajit Isaac, Chairman & Managing Director, Quess Corp., said, “We are excited to announce two major acquisitions: Monster’s businesses across India, SE Asia and the Middle East, and the Care Business of HCL Services. The acquisition of Monster is aligned with our “Digital First strategy for Business” and is a strategic investment in that direction, whereas the acquisition of Care Business marks our entry into the high-growth break-fix market for smartphones, consumer electronics and consumer durables with pan-India presence. While the Monster acquisition complements Quess’s market leading presence in the HR services space by establishing end-to-end offerings across the Employee Lifecycle Management space, the acquisition of Care Business will augment our services capability in the Customer Lifecycle Management space. Both the investments are typical of our philosophy of backing strong management teams and finding them a permanent home in Quess while creating long term value for our shareholders and clients.”

Robert Gibney, Chief Financial Officer, Monster Worldwide, said, “We feel fortunate to have found a partner in Quess who will provide the APAC region with the strategic imperative towards driving favourable outcomes for seekers and employers with the Monster brand. We wish our colleague Sanjay and the team the best in growing the business while we focus our efforts on North America and Europe.”

Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster.com (APAC & Gulf), said, “This is truly a significant milestone for us. It gives Monster (in APAC & Gulf) the opportunity to connect more people to more jobs. As we progress into the New Year, we are even more enthused and energized to provide greater value to individual job-seekers and employers through the use of our best technologies and platforms. Quess’ market-leading presence will help enhance our capability to build and implement new and innovative technology platforms to gain edge over competition and hence become a market leader in each of our operating geographies.”

Premkumar Seshadri, Executive Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, HCL Infosystems, said, “We are pleased to announce that we have signed definitive agreements with Quess Corp. for the sale of the Care Business of HCL Services. Over the last two decades, HCL has built a robust business addressing the mobile phone repair services marketplace. We have grown the Care Business to become the partner of choice for leading brands and believe that the rapid growth in the market requires significant focus and reach, which Quess brings to the table. We are confident that the business will reach greater heights with Quess.”