Staffing firm seeks bid deadline

Recruiters are seeing a slowdown in some sectors such as finance

Recruitment firm Michael Page has called on the Takeover Panel to impose a "put up or shut up" deadline on Swiss rival Adecco as it reported earnings.

Michael Page was responding to an earlier Adecco statement which failed to rule out a hostile bid for the firm.

Adecco made a 400p per share - £1.3bn - offer for Michael Page last week which was rejected for being too low.

Michael Page's first-half pre-tax profits jumped 22%, despite tough trading conditions in some markets.

Revenue increased 26% to £500m at the group, which generates 70% of gross profit outside the UK.

UK operations increased revenue by 7% to £188.8m and gross profit increased by 3.8% to £95.6m. Operating profit decreased 0.7% to £28.4m, because of weakness in banking and related sectors, said the company.

Takeover approach

Michael Page and Adecco had been involved in talks which could have resulted in the Swiss firm taking over its UK counterpart.

Last week, Michael Page and Adecco - the world's largest staffing group - held talks which culminated in Adecco tabling a proposal worth 400 pence per share. But the Michael Page board decided that the offer undervalued the company.

A follow-up approach, which would see Swiss group Adecco taking a controlling stake in Michael Page, was also rejected.

We want a 'put up or shut up' to put some clarity on the timescale Steve Ingham, Michael Page CEO Michael Page share price

Subsequent press reports over the weekend suggested that Adecco had ruled out an "unrecommended" offer.

On the orders of the UK Takeover Panel, the Swiss company on Monday confirmed it was still hoping for Michael Page to recommend its offer, but was "keeping its options open". This means in effect that the company could later make a hostile bid.

That sent shares for the UK company up 6.8% to 339p at 1000 GMT. At 1612 GMT, shares had climbed to 352.50p.

Deadline?

Responding to Adecco, Michael Page chief executive, Steve Ingham, told news agency Reuters that he thought the Takeover Panel would give Adecco a deadline.

"We want a 'put up or shut up' to put some clarity on the timescale," said Mr Ingham.

"If [Adecco] want to do something within that deadline, that's up to them."

Commenting on a possible hostile bid from Adecco, Mr Ingham added that any offer would be friendly "if [Adecco were] as good as their word".

Launched in 1976, Michael Page opened its first overseas office in Australia in 1985.

It now operates in 28 countries worldwide, employing more than 5,000 staff - including about 1,850 people in the UK.

Its UK business makes up about a third of overall profits. Adecco has 7,000 offices in 60 countries. It was formed in 1996 following the merger of Swiss firm Adia and Ecco of France.