Vedior

Infobox_Company
company_name = Vedior N.V.
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 1998
company_slogan = Where people matter
location = Amsterdam, the Netherlands
key_people = Jacques van den Broek (Chairman of the management board)
homepage = [http://www.vedior.com/ www.vedior.com]
industry = Recruitment
owner = Randstad Holding
num_employees = 14,366
revenue = € 7.660 billion (2006)

Vedior N.V. is an international staffing services company providing flexible labour, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Vedior operates worldwide: almost the whole of Europe, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Middle East and Asia. It has been a wholly-owned part of Randstad Holding since the end of June 2008.

Vedior was originally created as a spin off from the Dutch retail and services company Vendex, following the acquisition of the French company Bis. In 1999 Vedior's application to purchase Select, a UK based staffing company with operations in the USA and Australia, was approved by the European Commission.

Post merger, Vedior became the fourth largest staffing company in the world. However, the merger was hard to digest and left Vedior in a precarious position with a very large borrowing. Compounded by recessionary US conditions and a stagnant French market, former Select CEO Tony Martin was invited to take the helm of the company. Through prudent management and better economic conditions Vedior emerged as a strong and viable global entity.

Zach Miles replaced Tony Martin as CEO in 2004, and continued the focus on profitable growth through more than 20 strategic acquisitions. Tex Gunning joined the company as Miles' replacement in September 2007 having previously been Group Vice President for South East Asia and Australasia at Unilever. Gunning left the firm after its acquisition by Randstad in 2008.

The company operates in 50 different countries and is now the world's largest provider of professional/executive personnel in high growth sectors such as IT, accounting, healthcare, engineering, legal, and education. Vedior also provides a number of complementary HR-related services such as vendor management, outplacement, training and business process outsourcing.

Given its diverse portfolio, Vedior operates under a number of separate niche brands. The company believes that the use of niche brands allows it to deliver services better suited to specific industry sectors and also allows Vedior to attract more relevant and skilled talent on behalf of its clients.

Vedior’s primary strategic aims are to increase the proportion of business in the professional/executive recruitment sectors and to develop a more balanced earnings stream and improved business mix through both organic and acquisitive growth.

Vedior has a decentralised management model designed to create an entrepreneurial culture. Many of Vedior's management team have equity in their own local brands.

Takeover

On 3 December 2007, Vedior agreed in principle to be acquired by larger Dutch-listed rival Randstad for around €3.5 billion. The combined company would be second only to Adecco in the global recruitment business. [cite news
last = Molenaar | first = Jeroen | coauthors = van de Pol, Jurjen | title = Randstad Agrees to Buy Vedior for EU3.5 Billion | publisher = Bloomberg | date = 2007-12-03 | url = http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aFznClVTOGVE&refer=europe | accessdate = 2007-12-03] Randstad launched a formal offer valuing Vedior at €3.3 billion on
2 April, 2008, with the takeover targeted to be completed in May. [cite news
last = ten Wolde | first = Harro | title = Randstad launches $5.2 billion offer for Vedior | publisher = Reuters | date = 2 April, 2008 | url = http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSWEB038520080402 | accessdate = 2008-04-02] At the close of the offer period on 13 May, Randstad declared ownership of over 93% of Vedior's shares, facilitating the company's removal from the AEX index. [cite news |url=http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/05/13/afx5003487.html |publisher=Forbes |work=AFX News |title=Vedior to be removed from AEX index from May 14 |date=13 May, 2008 |accessdate=2008-05-14] Vedior's shares were delisted from the Amsterdam Stock Exchange on June 25. [cite news |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL0963795720080609 |work=Reuters |last=Stevenson |first=Reed |title=Vedior shares to be delisted on June 25 |date=9 June, 2008 |accessdate=2008-07-04]

References

External links

* [http://www.vedior.com Official website]