Seek invests $US40 million for 40% stake in Mexican job listings website

Online job listings site Seek has acquired a 40% interest in a Mexican employment website in order to continue its global expansion and get a leg-up on what it calls “significant growth” in the country’s internet and job classifieds industries.

The company paid $US40 million for the stake in Online Career Centre Mexico SA de CV, will take two of the site’s five board seats and will “play an active role in driving the strategic and growth agenda”.

Seek director of corporate strategy Jason Lenga said in a statement the company has been searching for opportunities to expand, particularly after its investments in China and Brazil, and as a growing nation Mexico is ripe for such an investment.

The deal was funded through an existing $250 million debt facility. The company says the investment will be earnings per share positive during the 2011 financial year, “and is confident it will be significantly accretive in the longer term”.

“Mexico is the 11th largest country in terms of population and 13th in terms of GDP. With both internet penetration and online advertising growing rapidly, the online employment classifieds market is expected to enjoy significant growth of over many years.”

Seek was contacted for comment this morning, but no reply was received before publication.

OCC is Mexico’s market leader in online listings, with more than 85,000 jobs registered on the site at any time, according to Seek. IT holds an 85% market share and counts about three million unique visitors every month.