Aquent
| Private | |
| Industry | Professional services |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Boston |
|
Key people
|
John Chuang (co-founder and CEO) |
| Services | Employment agencies |
| $500 million (2006)[1] | |
| Website | aquent.com |
Aquent is a staffing company specialized in placing temporary employees in marketing and creative industries. According to Staffing Industry Analysts, it is among the "largest marketing/creative staffing firms in the United States".[2]
History
Harvard College students John Chuang, Mia Wenjen and Steve Kapner in 1986 founded a typesetting business from the Harvard dorm.[1][3][4] The business grew and went into temporary staffing related to Mac training, changing its name to Mac Temaps.[1] The name would change again to Aquent, which means "not a follower" in Latin.[5]
The company has grown substantially and entered into new business areas through acquisitions.
The company saw a drop in revenue in 2001 in the aftermath of the dot-com bubble with revenue dropping in 2001 compared to 2000.[6] To counter the drop off in business, Aquent purchased Renaissance Worldwide Inc., a IT consultancy and staffing firm, for $106 million.[6] Aquent at that time had been known for offering staffing of print and web designers.[6] The deal allowed Aquent to also offer back end support staffers, which was considered by the company to complement well as a package solution.[6] The acquisition of Renaissance also included a municipal and state government IT consulting subsidiary, which as initially planned was sold months later in 2002 to EOne Global for $45 million.[7]
In 2003 the company made a hostile takeover offer for Computer Horizons Corporation, a computer network services company with a staffing business segment.[8] Aquent through its investment banker Robert W. Baird & Co. had initially approached Computer Horizon's management on April 3, 2013 with an invitation to have dinner, which was rejected by Bill Murphy, the President and CEO of Computer Horizons.[9] Aquent then proceeded to launch a cash tender offer on April 14, 2013 that valued Computer Horizons at $154 million.[9] This proposal was opposed by management and in May the offer was rejected.[9]
Aquent acquired Corporate Project Resources Inc. (CPRi), a staffing agency for marketing jobs, in 2005 for $25 million and renamed it Aquent Marketing Staffing while keeping its operations in Chicago.[10]
References
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