Staffmark To Be Acquired By Japanese Firm »

Downtown-based staffing firm Staffmark Holdings Inc. has agreed to a sale of the company to Japanese staffing provider Recruit Co. Ltd.

Staffmark had been planning an initial public offering of up to $125 million in stock. But those plans had been delayed by the stock market’s summer decline and volatility, which had brought the IPO market nearly to a halt.

Staffmark initially filed IPO plans in April. That was after its sales soared 34 percent in 2010 to $1 billion, while its bottom line rebounded from a loss in 2009 to a $15 million profit. But it posted a $1.2 million loss in the first quarter and hadn’t updated filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission since May.

Recruit is one of the world’s largest staffing providers, with $4.5 billion in annual revenue. That makes the company the second-largest private company in Greater Cincinnati.

The deal with Recruit Co. will give it more than $5.5 billion in revenue, making it the fifth-largest staffing services firm in the world.

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