MediaNews Group Opposes Monster Worldwide's Sale To Randstad - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - MediaNews Group, Inc. or MNG said it has sent a letter to Monster Worldwide Inc.'s (MWW) board of directors, disclosing an 11.6 percent ownership stake in Monster's shares and voicing opposition to the company's proposed sale to Randstad North America, Inc.

MNG is a newspaper company with over $1 billion in revenue and over 240 properties in 12 states. MNG also owns Jobs in the US, which operates regionally focused job boards in New England.

As Monster's largest shareholder based on publicly available information, MNG said it believes the $3.40 per share deal would represent the textbook definition of "selling at the bottom." The company noted that less than one year ago, Monster was repurchasing stock at an average price of $6.03, a 77.4 percent premium to the current offer.

In the letter, MNG said it does not intend to tender its shares in the upcoming tender and urged other Monster shareholders also not to tender their shares. MNG recommended that Monster explore all strategic options, including an auction, a review of business operations or a restructuring.

Additionally, MNG offered five recommendations to Monster to improve operations and incerase shareholder value.

These include to reduce expenses by $100 million to $150 million through implementation of operational best practices, monetize non-core or underperforming assets that are not being valued at all in current stock price, reduce capital expenditures, simplify the product offering and increase sales productivity, and focus marketing efforts on B2B customer acquisition as well as candidate acquisition.