Job board, Monster Worldwide Inc, which has been up for sale for more than a year, said it would buy back shares if a sale did not go through.

The company put itself up for sale in March 2012 as weak job markets in the United States and Europe, which generate the lion's share of its revenue, dragged on its performance.

According to Reuters Chief Executive Sal Iannuzzi warned in February that talks to sell Monster were proceeding "very slowly".

"It is difficult to predict, if not impossible at this point, whether those conversations will result in a transaction", he said on a post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

However, as the sale "conversations end", Iannuzzi said Monster was preparing to resume its share repurchase. "And we wanted to be ready to execute (a buyback) very aggressively, particularly given these prices."

Monster Worldwide's board authorized a share repurchase program of up to $200 million, replacing a $250 million buyback plan that expired in April, and through which it repurchased only $107 million as it began to pursue strategic alternatives.

The parent of Monster.com has since closed down operations in Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and sold most of its loss-making business in China.

On Thursday, Monster shares closed at €4.67, +9% up on the day and +16% above the 52 week low of 4.02 set on 22 April, 2013. This is -44% below a year ago and means the company is valued at USD 544.23 million