Time Is Running Out For TMP Takeover Of HotJobs

The clock ticks away as HotJobs.com Ltd. execs and shareholders await news from TMP Worldwide Inc., the parent company of rival online job board Monster.com, about whether it will sweeten its takeover bid, causing HotJobs to kiss Yahoo Inc., the opposing suitor, goodbye.

TMP has until 9 a.m. Thursday to make an offer that's as favorable to HotJobs shareholders as the one Yahoo presented earlier this month. A TMP spokesman says the terms of its offer to HotJobs were still being discussed and the company would issue a statement by the deadline.

Yahoo's standing $436 million offer would call for it to acquire all outstanding HotJobs common stock for $10.50 per share. In a statement issued Christmas Eve, HotJobs deemed Yahoo's proposal "superior" and said it would accept it if TMP did not present an equal or better bid within 72 hours. Yahoo's offer is about 6% higher than the all-stock proposal TMP put before HotJobs in June, when the two first entered into a merger agreement.

If HotJobs accepts Yahoo's proposal, it will have to pay TMP a $15 million termination fee and reimbursement of up to $2 million in documented expenses for accountants, attorneys, and financial advisers.