On June 21, 51job Inc. announced that it was being acquired in a $5.7 billion leveraged buy-out transaction by a consortium of investors led by S&C client Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd.; Rick Yan, the chief executive officer of 51job and entities affiliated with Mr. Yan; and private equity investors DCP Capital Partners and Ocean Link Partners. 51job, headquartered in Shanghai and listed on NASDAQ, is a leading provider of integrated human resource services in China.
Recruit is currently 51job’s largest shareholder with a 34.8 percent stake. Recruit will hold a 42.7 percent stake in the private company in the form of common shares and a convertible bond instrument, and it will retain a board seat. It will also monetize a portion of its interest in 51job at closing through the sale of a portion of its shares to other consortium members.
S&C has represented Recruit, a leading Japanese-based human resources company, in previous transactions, including
its 2018 acquisition of Glassdoor.
The S&C team advising Recruit is led by Brian Hamilton, Garth Bray (Hong Kong) and Lauren Boehmke. Jamie Logie (Hong Kong) is advising on financing matters.