Saongroup’s South African empire grows with new acquisition

17 Jul 2012

Irish-headquartered online HR player Saongroup.com’s South African recruitment site PNET.co.za has acquired Jobs.co.za for an undisclosed sum.

In 14 years, Pnet.co.za has built one of South Africa’s largest websites, with more than 2,600 clients advertising 25,000 jobs and a database of more than 1.4m job seekers.

Launched in 1997, Jobs.co.za has developed a CV database of more than half a million job seekers with close to 100 clients advertising more than 8,500 live jobs.

“Saongroup.com’s further expansion into the South African market is a significant step for the company,” said Ciaran McCooey, CEO, Saongroup.com.

“Jobs.co.za already has an extensive footprint across the South African recruitment market and we aim to strengthen this further. This acquisition is a further positive development for Saongroup.com and in line with our global expansion strategy.”

In March 2012, Saongroup.com announced a major expansion of its business in China with an investment of €25m. The company now has a presence in 100 cities across the Chinese recruitment market.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com