The joint owners of recruitment agency SkillsGroup, Ms Paula Lager and Mr Ian Bewick, will initially receive €4 million (£3.15 million) for the acquisition of their firm by the publicly-quoted US employment services company, Manpower.
Ms Lager and Mr Bewick, who will stay with the firm, could see the final yield increase significantly between now and 2002 in a performance-related package that will give them extra money if certain financial targets are met.
Asked about the consideration yesterday, Mr Bewick said: "It could double. It's not capped. We are locked in for three years."
"The final figure is weighted toward the end of the period," said Manpower's operations director, Mr Ken Pullan.
The acquisition is Manpower's first in 10 years after it recently recommitted itself to expansion by acquisition following what it described as a "successful period of organic growth".
The US group, which has 3,200 offices in 52 countries, said it had looked at several Irish firms before approaching SkillsGroup. Negotiations began in May.
While Mr Pullan said Manpower had not entered into negotiations with other Irish firms, he said it wanted to buy other companies.
"We've looked at probably every organisation in Ireland that might fit, and a number are still in play," he said. Asked whether the recruitment agency, CPL Engineering, was one of those, he said it would be "inappropriate to reveal that".
Asked whether Manpower had considered a link with recruitment group Marlborough, Mr Pullan said: "We looked at a lot of companies in Ireland. I'm sure Marlborough was one of them, but it wouldn't have fitted."
SkillsGroup's name will be retained under the deal and the companies will continue to be managed individually from their existing sites. A new holding company for shared resources, including databases, will be created. Management from both companies will be represented at board level.
Manpower hopes to benefit from the strength of the SkillsGroup brand and client base. This includes Dell, Siemens, Apple, Anderson Consulting, Eircom, Xerox and Compaq.
Firms such as Bank of Ireland, IBM, Citibank and Xerox are on Manpower's client list. The company employs 25 people at its head offices in Dublin and Belfast and contract site offices at Dundalk and Derry.
SkillsGroup employs 50 workers in its offices in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. In the 12 months to July 31st, the group had a turnover of more than €5 million.
