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Adecco in $1.3 billion US deal

The world's largest recruitment firm, Adecco, has announced it is taking over United States competitor MPS Group in a deal worth $1.3 billion (SFr 1.31 billion).

The agreement by the Swiss and American companies is based on a purchase price of $13.8 per MPS share, which represents a premium of 24 per cent over Monday’s closing stock price.

Adecco said it was launching SFr900 million of mandatory convertible bonds to shore up its balance sheet and protect its investment grade credit rating in the wake of the cash deal.

The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, is a Fortune Global 500 company with operations in over 60 countries.

A Fortune 1000 company with headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, MPS Group has operations in the US, Europe, Canada, Australia, and Asia. It specialises in qualified accounting, legal, IT and health personnel.

With the acquisition Adecco expects to save millions in business synergies. Also on Tuesday, Adecco said its third quarter results were in line with expectations and that market conditions had improved.

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