Yahoo Makes Bid for HotJobs Site

Yahoo Inc. made a $436-million unsolicited bid for careers Web site HotJobs.com Inc., challenging an offer from TMP Worldwide Inc., parent company of Monster.com.

Yahoo said it would pay $10.50 for each HotJobs share, a 66% premium over the Monday closing price. HotJobs rose to $7.21 in after-hours trading, after closing up 17 cents at $6.47 on Nasdaq. News of the deal was made after the close of trading.

Chief Executive Terry Semel said Yahoo was offering HotJobs shareholders a better value, less regulatory risk, and faster execution than TMP Worldwide.

When TMP made its stock-swap bid in June, it valued HotJobs at $12.20 a share. At Wednesday’s closing prices, that deal valued HotJobs at $9.89 a share.

HotJobs said in a statement that its board has informed TMP of Yahoo’s bid and that it had approved discussions or negotiations with Yahoo on the basis permitted by its agreement with TMP. The board hasn’t changed its recommendation of the TMP merger, the company said.

HotJobs representatives couldn’t be reached to comment.