Empresas y finanzas

StepStone Acquires Sourcea.fr



    StepStone (OSE:STP), the leading European provider of Total Talent
    solutions, today announces the acquisition of Sourcea.fr, a leading
    French niche market job board focused on Telesales, Banking, Marketing
    and Secretarial Services.

    This acquisition marks StepStone´s first acquisition in the French
    market since 2000, and will complement the company´s existing French
    businesses, which includes job board StepStone.fr and StepStone
    Solutions France.

    Founded in 2000 in by Boris Gourmelen, Sourcea.fr typically
    carries over 2,500 job vacancies across several niche sectors
    including Telesales, Banking, Marketing and Secretarial Services. By
    focussing on jobs for the BAC to BAC+3 level (recently qualified
    students from school leavers to Graduates), Sourcea.fr has developed a
    large audience of qualified job seekers ranging from students looking
    for their first job to experienced job seekers looking for their next
    role in their chosen profession.

    StepStone has acquired Sourcea for an initial consideration of EUR
    1.5 m, to be settled in cash, together with further payments in 2009
    dependent upon financial performance in 2008. Boris Gourmelen will
    stay with the business and continue to lead his team of fifteen.
    Sourcea.fr will continue to operate as a separate online property
    alongside StepStone.fr, which will provide complimentary job board
    resources and related services.

    Ralf Baumann, Group Managing Director for StepStone online,
    commented, "Sourcea.fr has a fantastic reputation in this area,
    delivering high quality candidates for companies hiring in these niche
    sectors. The professionalism and results driven approach of Boris and
    his team make them an excellent match for StepStone."

    "After 7 years of independent development, this acquisition will
    allow us, in 2008 and the following years, to accelerate our
    development in France and to deliver better value to customers and job
    seekers. Finally, StepStone´s strategy and vision will help Sourcea´s
    team to meet those new challenges", said Boris Gourmelen, founder of
    Sourcea.fr.

    Colin Tenwick, CEO of StepStone commented, "France is one of the
    most important job markets in Europe and we are delighted to
    strengthen the position of our business by acquiring Sourcea.. The
    acquisition enables us to widen our strategy of acquiring successful
    online job board properties and utilising our expertise and resources
    to accelerate their market positions, and consolidate our leadership
    in France, which we believe offers considerable growth potential. I am
    confident that the local expertise of the new members of the StepStone
    team will make a significant contribution to our success in 2008."

    Note to Editors

    About StepStone

    StepStone was founded in Norway in 1996 and pioneered the
    development of online recruitment. Today, StepStone is a leading
    provider of total talent management services and technology solutions.
    StepStone´s total talent management portfolio spans a full range of
    solutions from recruitment to on-boarding, training, career and
    succession planning, performance management and more. StepStone´s
    public job boards cover 13 European countries, providing high-quality
    candidates to recruiters quickly and effectively through individually
    focused campaigns. Thousands of organisations including Aviva, BBC,
    Amey, Royal Bank of Scotland, AXA, British Airways, Xerox and Fiat use
    StepStone´s products and services to help them recruit, develop and
    retain qualified staff globally. StepStone was the only
    European-headquartered vendor to be recognised as a ´leader´ by
    Gartner, Inc´s "Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software, 2006"
    report. For more information see: www.stepstone.com