1. How has Adecco been able to outperform its rivals in the staffing industry? What is the strategic and economic rationale for its acquisition of Olsten?
As a global leader in the employment services industry, Adecco had a focused strategy aimed at being the “employer and supplier of choice”. This was attained by rapid growth, which also proved quite attractive to shareholders. Adecco knew that their clients preferred to deal with one company globally in order to realize consistent service. Much of Adecco’s offering came in the form of general staffing (88%) however, they enjoyed higher margins on specialized offering such as financial and IT which also differentiated them from the competition.
Adecco had a goal to become number one …show more content…

This per share value is consistent with the rate at which Olsten stock is currently trading which is $7.38.
NOTE 3 - (See Analysis Spreadsheet, Tab – Question 3 & Exhibit 13)

4. Now, let’s factor in several other components/nuances of an Adecco valuation: a. Using the same formulas as described in question 3 above, if Adecco were to assume the $750 MM of Olsten debt, the new NPV would be $5,273,860,000. Calculating the per share value utilizing the same shares issued and outstanding of 81,309,325 results in a per share value of $6.49(Note 4). (In assuming this debt, we just removed the $750MM from the previously calculated NPV, and recalculated the Per share value.) b. The fact that a portion of the overall enterprise value is owned by minority shareholders (estimated at approximately 6%) would not affect the value, however if those shareholders demanded that their portion be purchased separately, then the overall share price paid to Olsten could change. Taking this into account, the minority shareholder value would be approximately $361MM reducing the overall value per share for Olsten to $6.96.
NOTE 4 - (See Analysis Spreadsheet, Tab – Exhibit 13, Line 40)

5. As Adecco, how much would you bid for Olsten? Why? How would you convince the Olsten board to accept your offer? How might the Olsten family’s perspective differ from that of the