Mergers and Acquisitions

Manpower to acquire Comsys It Partners
Milwaukee-based Manpower Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Comsys It Partners Inc. of Houston, Texas, for $17.65 per share, for a total estimated value of $431 million.
Comsys is a leading professional staffing firm. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
Comsys’ professional IT staffing services will be integrated into the Manpower Professional offering, and when combined with Elan, Manpower’s European IT staffing business, will create an entity with total revenues of more than $2.5 billion.
The combined entities increase Manpower’s professional consultants on assignment to more than 25,000. With 4,000 offices around the globe, the addition of COMSYS increases Manpower’s professional staffing services geographic footprint to more than 400 offices worldwide.
"The acquisition of Comsys is consistent with our strategy and strengthens the continued expansion of our professional staffing services and outcome-based solutions," said Jeff Joerres, chairman and chief executive officer of Manpower. "Both are areas where we have significantly grown organically over the past few years, driven by our strategy to provide clients with all the talent they need, particularly in the high demand skill verticals of IT, engineering, finance and accounting."
"Manpower and Comsys have very similar cultures, focused on a client-first and consultant-first mindset and values," said Jonas Prising, Manpower Inc. president of the Americas. "Joining our trusted brands and services, combined with our ability to deliver a unique experience to clients and candidates, will address the market’s needs from both a scale and capabilities perspective. The strong alignment of our services and cultures positions us well for a rapid and successful integration."
Larry Enterline, CEO of Comsys, said, "This is a great opportunity for us to leverage our demonstrated expertise and strong market presence with Manpower’s global leadership in the employment services industry. The combination of these two great organizations is exciting for us and very positive for all of the stakeholders’ of both companies.”
Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. served as the exclusive financial advisor to Comsys It in the transaction.
Manpower also announced that its fourth-quarter net earnings fell 62 percent to $29.1 million, or 37 cents per share, from $76 million, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier. The company’s quarterly revenue fell 4 percent to $4.4 billion.