The Washington Post Co. and
Tribune Co. Wednesday joined forces to form BrassRing Inc., a comprehensive online career
service network.
It is the first company to merge job searches, recruitment, professional
education and hiring management services for both employers and job seekers.
At a 54 percent interest, the Post’s (WPO)
subsidiary, Kaplan Educational Services, is the leading shareholder.
It is followed by the Tribune (TRB),
which has a 36 percent interest and venture capital firm Accel Partners, with a 10 percent stake.
Combined, these powerful companies will bring more than $70 million in backing. In turn, BrassRing will promote the extensive media reach of the Post and the Tribune.
Initially, the Post and the Tribune plan to split what they will bring to the table for BrassRing.
Kaplan will offer HireSystems, a fast growing provider of Web-based
software that automates and accelerate the hiring process and its Career
Services unit, which is the largest provider of career fairs in North America.
For its end, Tribune will contribute Terra-Starr, a leading provider of job fairs in Chicago and thepavement.com, a career building
and lifestyle management service for people aged 20 to 26.
Projected revenues of these businesses for 1999 is more than $30 million.
Kaplan’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Grayer will become chairman and CEO for BrassRing.
“BrassRing enters the market as the leader in professional education,
recruiting, and hiring management services,” Grayer said. “We’ll
aggressively grow and promote these services, taking advantage of the power
and reach of The Post and Tribune Companies’ broadcast, cable, magazine,
and newspaper properties.”
At launch, BrassRing expects to have relationships with about 200,000 job
candidates and 3,500 client companies.