Proposed Singapore recruitment services merger opened to public consultation

The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) said it has launched the consultation to address “potential competition concerns”.

Under the proposed acquisition, Seek Ltd and Seek Asia Investments Pte Ltd would acquire the recruitment business assets of JobStreet Corporation Berhad, including JobStreet.com Pte Ltd.

CCS said the proposal would bring together the two main online recruitment advertising platforms ‘JobsDB.com.sg’ and ‘Jobstreet.com.sg’, “each with a substantial employer/recruiter customer base and jobseeker database”.

CCS said that following an initial review of the proposed acquisition, which the Commission completed in April 2014, Seek has proposed commitments to allay completion concerns. The commitments include preventing Seek from entering into exclusive agreements with employer and recruiter customers.

Seek would also maintain the current pricing of its services capped at present day rate cards or current day negotiated prices, subject to Consumer Price Index variations.

CCS said Seek had proposed that the term of its commitments be for a period of three years from the date of completion of the proposed acquisition.

Bryan Tan of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture partner of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: “This is the first time a merger between online service providers, who are fairly young organisations, is being submitted for this approval process in Singapore. It does indicate that in some services, the online players are now dominant and important enough for competition concerns to be raised.”