Proposed Acquisition by Seek Asia Investments Pte. Ltd. of the Jobstreet Business

Notifying Parties

SEEK Limited and JobStreet Corporation Berhad

Notifying Date

20 February 2014

Summary of Transaction

(i)              the names of the merger parties;

·         SEEK Asia Investments Pte. Ltd. (“SEEK Asia Investments”) and

·         The recruitment business assets of Jobstreet (the “Jobstreet Business”) comprised of the following entities:

• JobStreet.com Pte Ltd (“Jobstreet Singapore”);

• JobStreet,com Sdn. Bhd;

• JobStreet,com Philippines. Inc.;

• JS Vietnam Holdings Pte. Ltd.;

• JobStreet.com Shared Services Snd. Bhd.;

• JS Recruitment Solutions Sdn. Bhd.;

• JobStreet.com Limited;

• PT JobStreet Indonesia; and

• Agensi Pekerjaan JS Staffing Services Snd. Bhd.,

(collectively, the “Jobstreet Business Entities”).

(ii)              a description of the transaction;

This notification is made by SEEK Limited (“SEEK”) and JobStreet Corporation Berhad (the “Applicants”) in relation to Seek Asia Investments’ acquisition of the JobStreet Business (the “Acquisition”).

(iii)             a description of the business activities of the merger parties worldwide and in Singapore;

The JobStreet Business offers online recruitment advertising services and recruitment solutions. Specific to Singapore, JobStreet Singapore, one of the JobStreet Business Entities to be acquired by SEEK Asia Investments through the Acquisition, offers online recruitment advertising services and recruitment solutions in Singapore.

SEEK Asia Investments is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEEK Asia Ltd (“SEEK Asia”). SEEK International Investments Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEEK, holds 69 per cent interest in SEEK Asia. SEEK Asia holds 100 per cent interest in Jobs DB Inc, which in turn holds 100 per cent interest in Jobs DB Singapore Pte Ltd (“JobsDB Singapore”).

SEEK offers online recruitment advertising services and recruitment solutions. JobsDB Singapore is involved in providing online recruitment advertising services and recruitment solutions in Singapore.

(iv)             a description of the overlapping goods or services, including brand names;

The Applicants consider the relevant product market for the purposes of this notification to be the market for the provision of recruitment advertising services generally. SEEK and the JobStreet Business also overlap to a limited extent in the supply of recruitment solutions.

(v)              the applicant’s views on:

a.             definition of the relevant market(s);

b.            the way in which competition functions in this market;

c.             barriers to entry and countervailing buyer power; and

d.            the competitive effects of the merger (non-coordinated, coordinated and/or vertical effects, as relevant).

The Applicants are of the view that the relevant product market should be defined as the market for the provision of recruitment advertising services generally, and that the relevant market is global in scope.

The Acquisition will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in view of several factors, including the following :

Non-coordinated effects

(a)           the intense nature of competition and myriad of competitors that currently exists in the relevant market;

(b)           the ability of customers to easily switch between suppliers and to utilise the services of different suppliers simultaneously; and

(c)           absence of significant barriers to entry, and the ease and likelihood of entry of potential competitors into the relevant market; and

Coordinated effects

(a)           there are numerous competitors of varying sizes such that participating firms are unlikely to be align themselves on terms of coordination;

(b)           there is a high level of excess capacity, particularly in the online recruitment advertising space, and market players have strong incentives to ramp-up to absorb demand from switching customers; and

(c)           low barriers to entry, and accordingly high potential for increased competition, which similarly creates disruptive effects and reduces sustainability of any coordinated behaviour.

Decision:

Subject to the implementation of and compliance with the behavioural and divestiture commitments offered by SEEK Ltd. and SEEK Asia Investments Pte. Ltd, the Proposed Acquisition will not infringe section 54 of the Competition Act.

Click here to view the commitments proposed by SEEK Ltd and SEEK Asia Investments Pte. Ltd.

Click to view the Divesture Commitments proposed by SEEK Ltd and SEEK Asia Investments Pte. Ltd.

Decision Date:

The grounds of decision can be found here. The annexes to the grounds of decision can be found here.