Hays plc, the world’s sixth-largest staffing firm, is paying $44.0 million to acquire 80 percent of Veredus Corp., a Tampa Fla.-based IT staffing firm that ranked No. 43 on this year’s list of fastest-growing staffing firms with 2013 US staffing and talent engagement revenue of $91.3 million.
Veredus’ selling shareholders will retain 20 percent of equity for the next three years. UK-based Hays will have the option to acquire the remaining stake starting in March 2018, at a pre-determined multiple of earnings subject to a cap.
Hays has 237 offices in 33 countries and posted revenue of £3.69 billion (US$6.26 billion) in its fiscal year ended June 30. It entered the US market in late 2010 and has offices in New York and Houston.
Plans call for Veredus to operate under its own brand but will be denoted “a Hays company” until 2017 at which time, Veredus will fully integrate with Hays. Veredus’ selling shareholders will continue in their senior leadership roles within the Hays USA business.
“The acquisition of Veredus provides the ideal platform for us to import our complementary recruiting expertise and relationships from across the Group, driving diversified growth and better serving our many clients for whom the USA is a key market,” said Hays CEO Alistair Cox. “By adding the existing market-leading business and quality leadership team that Veredus brings, we enter the next phase for Hays in the USA with a clear plan to significantly accelerate our growth trajectory in this key market.”
Veredus, which Staffing Industry Analysts featured as a “2013 Best Staffing Firm to Work For,” generates 85 percent of its net fees from contracting and temporary assignments and 15 percent from perm placements. Established in 2001, it operates primarily in the Southeast and Midwest US. Veredus has 150 employees and over 800 contractors currently active on assignments and in the last year made placements across 30 states.
“The Veredus business model is complementary to ours in the US with little or no overlap in services or markets/cities served,” said Hays North America President John Faraguna. “It brings great potential in terms of shared client opportunities and a network of offices in 10 cities, operating in 30 states, where Hays is not currently present. This presents a real opportunity to accelerate our growth in this key market.”
