Adecco Group to buy US-based General Assembly in US$412.5m deal

[ZURICH] Swiss staffing company Adecco Group is buying US-based technology education provider General Assembly in a deal valued at US$412.5 million, it said on Monday, adding that heavy investments in the business will initially drag on earnings.

General Assembly, whose founders include hotel heir Adam Pritzker, is a private school started in 2011 that provides training in fields such as data science and analysis. Its revenues in 2017 were about US$100 million with a strong 2018 booking backlog, Adecco said in a statement.

Adecco Group has gone into acquisition mode to kickstart growth and address its lagging performance compared with faster-growing rivals, such as Randstad. Adecco said it sees synergies between General Assembly and its own training business, in particular, the Lee Hecht Harrison career transition business.

"General Assembly is currently in a high-growth investment phase and is therefore expected to be modestly dilutive to Group earnings in 2018, the impact of which is included within the group's current guidance on planned strategic investments," Adecco said in a statement.

"From 2019, General Assembly is expected to be modestly accretive to earnings," it added.

The total enterprise value of the deal is US$412.5 million, Adecco said, adding General Assembly will continue to operate as a separate division under its Chief Executive Jake Schwartz, a co-founder.

General Assembly lists Viacom, Pearson and L'Oreal as clients, according to its website.

REUTERS