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South Africa – Adcorp acquires Australian oil and gas recruiter

21 April 2015

South African staffing firm Adcorp (ADR: JSE) announced that it has acquired Australian oil & gas recruitment company Dare Holdings for an estimated AUD 30 million (USD 23.3 million).

Established in 1988, Dare provides qualified and experienced engineering and technical skills on a contract and permanent basis to local and international clients in the oil & gas sector. Based in Perth the company focused primarily on the Western Australia market.

Richard Pike, CEO of Adcorp, commented: “The acquisition represents an important and exciting opportunity for the Adcorp Group. Dare is extremely well positioned in the Australian market, has exposure to a fundamental industry sector of the Australian economy, has a well-established and experienced management team, long standing global customer relationships, a stable track record of financial growth, and strong cash generative characteristics.”

The acquisition is being funded out of increased debt facilities extended by the Group’s Asia Pacific Banking partners, Westpac Banking Corporation, as well as by the Group’s existing and future cash flows generated in Australia.  Part of the payment is contingent on the company’s future earnings.

Mr Pike added: “The acquisition provides a strong platform for expansion of Dare into both Asia and Africa on the back of its established global customer relationships as well as in collaboration with Adcorp’s existing African operations and recently established Asian presence. There are also opportunities to expand the business to the Australian East Coast market as well as into the blue collar oil & gas skills space in conjunction with another of Adcorp’s existing Australian businesses, Labour Solutions Australia (LSA).”

Dare Managing Director Christopher Hicks said: “I am excited about the opportunities presented by being part of the greater Adcorp Group and the prospect of growing the business, together with Adcorp, to become a global player of consequence in the oil & gas industry.”

Mr Pike continued: “Adcorp’s acquisition strategy is to buy successful businesses with entrenched management teams and to perpetuate and build on those successes. Dare will be no exception. As such, it is not our intention to make sweeping changes to the business or to tamper with the success formula of the past. Rather, the emphasis is on offering Dare scale advantage, specialised know-how where appropriate and the opportunity to cross-sell and tap into a larger client base.”

“The inclusion of Dare as part of the greater Adcorp Group is another big step forward in realising our strategic objective of becoming a player of consequence focused primarily on Africa and the Asia Pacific region. The acquisition adds further bulk to the Group, adds to the international portfolio, adds greater expertise in an important industry vertical and has the potential to make a significant financial contribution to the Group in the future,” he concluded.