US staffing firm Kelly has local buyouts on mind

Following in the footsteps of Adeco and Vedior NV, US-based Kelly Services Inc, a staffing solutions provider, is planning to use acquisitions as a mode of expansion in India. It is already talking to a couple of regional, niche players in this regard.

Dhirendra Shantilal, vice-president and managing director (Asia) of Kelly Services, said, "We are in talks with some of the Indian placement companies as prospective acquisition targets as we want to expand our people base here."

He said the companies identified were string niche players in their segments. "More importantly, their culture should be able to be integrated with ours."

Kelly Services is a Fortune 500 company with revenues of over $43 billion. It provides staffing solutions in 26 countries to over two lakh customers (95 per cent of Fortune 500 companies) and providing employment to over seven lakh employees annually.

In May this year Vedior NV, the world's third largest speciality staffing firm, had acquired 76 per cent stake in the Chennai-based Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd, while in September Adecco, the Swiss HR and staffing services company with revenues of ¤ 16.3 billion, acquired a 67 per cent stake in Bangalore-based PeopleOne Consulting.

With the growth in the Indian economy and demand for Indian employees growing abroad, global recruitment agencies are finding it lucrative to join forces with existing players in India and expand their operations here.

"India is growing at a fast pace and is a vibrant market," said Shantilal. "However, making acquisitions in India is a long and drawn-out process," he added, pointing out that a couple of acquisition initiatives by the company in the past had been wasted efforts. "Due diligence revealed that the target companies have been making exaggerated claims."

Stressing on the importance of India, Shantilal said the company will soon introduce staffing solutions for IT resources, scientific resources, and biotechnology.

Its focus is currently in financial, telecommunications, information technology, life sciences and fast-moving consumer goods segments.