USG People - Approval for the sale of various businesses

The European Commission has granted approval for the sale of the General Staffing activities of USG People in Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Poland to Randstad. In April USG People announced its intention to sell these business units.

The sale of the General Staffing activities in the above countries marks another step in the implementation of the USG People strategy redesign of 2011. The strategy is based upon focusing on those markets where USG People can offer unique added value to its stakeholders and create sufficient mass to ensurea leading and profitable positioning throughout the cycle.

USG People will focus its attention mainly on its existing leadership positions and target its investments at developing high-yield concepts such as the recently introduced USG Professionals brand.

The legal transfer of the relevant business units to Randstad is expected to take place in late June 2013.

Conclusion:
The timing of the closure is in line with expectations. We already adjusted our scenario last month following the announcement of this transaction.