The empire has been built. Now it is time to exploit it. Adecco, the world’s biggest temporary employment agency, has made no secret of the fact that it was in the acquisition market; last year a £1.25bn grab for UK rival Michael Page failed. But now it has finally won a battle with the $1.3bn acquisition of MPS, the US-listed employment group. Taking on MPS establishes Adecco’s US presence and bumps up the blue-collar specialist’s share of revenues from higher-margin professional placements from 17 to 25 per cent.

The cash offer of $13.80 represents a 24 per cent premium to MPS’s last closing share price. Similar to most listed employment agencies, however, MPS is about a third off its 2006 high. For those with a strong balance sheet such as Adecco, it looks like a good time to buy. But prices have been suppressed for a reason. Staffing agencies have little visibility into trading conditions. The US, MPS’s main market, has shed jobs for 21 consecutive months. Almost one in 10 Americans is out of work. And, while growth in unemployment may have slowed, it is still expected to break the 10 per cent barrier before calming next year. In MPS’s other main market, the UK, unemployment is less bad, at 7.9 per cent, but lower business margins may offset the benefits.