Search directory and portal site
Yahoo! has made its first investment in
Australian business, with its local arm taking a minority equity investment
in online recruitment service Seek
Communications.
Yahoo! Australia & New Zealand
will invest AUS$6.25 million (US$3.75 million) cash in Seek, to become the
principal supplier of employment listings for the local search engine.
Yahoo! ANZ will also commence an extensive marketing campaign targeting
Australians across its network and that of the global Yahoo! sites.
It’s a move we believe will benefit both companies in terms of audience
and services, to offer our users compelling services in a variety of key
areas,” said Yahoo! ANZ managing director Tony Faure. “One of these areas
is going to be classifieds, and the employment listings to be provided by
Seek will be our first major step in that direction.”
Mr Faure added that the Yahoo! alliance would lend greater access to
Seek’s database of jobs. Yahoo!’s employment site is scheduled to launch by
June.
The deal will bring together two large players in their respective
categories, particularly in terms of brand recognition and market share.
According to Media Metrix
figures for February, Yahoo! ANZ reaches 57 per cent of Australia’s online
audience. Media Metrix figures also report that Seek attracted 237,000
unique visitors in February, more than double that of its nearest online
recruitment competitor. Seek also features more than 18,000 jobs on its
site each month.
“Both companies have increadibly strong brands and services that
resonate with the online audience,” said Seek chief executive officer Paul
Bassat of the alliance.
Back in November, Seek raised venture capital from AMWIN, the fund
created by investment groups Australian Mezzanine Investments and Walden
International Investment Group, as well as from financial institution Macquarie Bank‘s Macquarie
Technology Fund and the Australasian Media and Communications Fund. Seek
has been using the capital to fund expansion, and at the time also
mentioned its intention to list on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The recruitment site has also established partnerships throughout its
two year history, with companies such as portal site Excite Asia Pacific, LookSmart and Publishing and
Broadcasting Limited (PBL)/Microsoft co-owned portal ninemsn.
Yahoo!, meanwhile, has developed alliances with Australian retailer Coles Myer and Fairfax property CitySearch, to
eastablish the Purple Pages online business directory.
