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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

StepStone Buys Job-Today - 09/2000

German Leader Purchased

European Leader StepStone has purchased 75% of Job-Today, one of Germanyís leading on-line recruitment companies. It will bid for the remaining share later this year. Founded
in 1996, Job-Today is Germanyís third largest e-cruiter. It specialises in the IT-sector, being the leader in this field.

In October 1999 Job-Today itself acquired SwissWebJobs, one of the leading on-line recruitment agencies in Switzerland. In February 2000 it merged with Job-Inde, a leading Swiss HR publisher who owns the e-cruiter Jobs.ch. The combined businesses are believed to be the largest online recruiter in Switzerland.

In the first half of 2000, Job-Today had sales of EUR 3.6 million, up 220% on the comparable period of the previous year. Clearly, this company is a strong partner for StepStoneís European expansion ñ and well worth the purchase price of EUR 34.9 million.

Giles Clarke, CEO of StepStone, said ìThe acquisition of Job-Today represents a unique opportunity to propel StepStone into the no 1 position in the fast growing German market. There is little overlap between Job-Today and StepStoneís German subsidiary, and the prospects for the combined businesses are exciting. In addition, Job-Todayís operations provide instant entry into Switzerland in a leading position backed with a good revenue and client base. Above all, todayís important acquisition is a key component of our strategic plan to reach market leadership across Europe. We have already achieved this in the UK, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Scandinavia and we expect to reach that position in France in the near futureî.

www.stepstone.com