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EXHIBIT 99.4
MONDAY APRIL 17, 7:02 AM EASTERN TIME
HEADHUNTER.NET TO MERGE WITH
CAREERMOSAIC
MERGER SOLIDIFIES HEADHUNTER'S NO. 2 POSITION IN ON-LINE RECRUITING MARKET
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2000--Headhunter.net, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM:HHNT -
news) today announced that IT signed a definitive agreement to merge with
CareerMosaic, a leading on-line national recruiting service. The combination of
Headhunter.net and CareerMosaic will create the second largest on-line
recruiting service based on revenues, traffic, users, customers and job
listings. CareerMosaic is a subsidiary of Omnicom Group Inc.
(NYSE:OMC - news).
Under the terms of the agreement, Headhunter.net will issue approximately 7.5
million shares for Career Mosaic's assets, representing approximately 40% of
Headhunter.net's fully diluted shares after the merger. The merger is subject to
certain conditions, including regulatory approvals and approval by
Headhunter.net's shareholders. The merger is expected to close in the third
quarter.
Robert M. Montgomery, President and Chief Executive Officer of Headhunter.net,
stated, "The merger with CareerMosaic will create strong value for job seekers
and employers by creating a major destination employment hub on the Internet
with over 250,000 job postings, 450,000 resumes, and over 7.0 million visitors
per month. We are very excited to join forces with Omnicom. Their experience in
growing Internet businesses and vast global reach are strong additions to our
team."
John Wren, Chief Executive Officer and President of Omnicom Group Inc.,
commented, "The merger will create a clear leader in the on-line recruiting
market. Another subsidiary of Omnicom, Bernard Hodes Group, launched
CareerMosaic in 1994 and has been very successful in establishing a major
presence in the on-line market. The combined strengths of Headhunter.net and
CareerMosaic will accelerate opportunities to expand market share in this fast
growing area and build economic value. Our investment in Headhunter.net becomes
an important strategic addition to our growing portfolio of digital companies in
our Communicade division."
Bernard Hodes, President of Bernard Hodes Group, the largest recruitment
advertising agency in the U.S., will join Headhunter.net's Board of Directors
upon closing of the transaction. Mr. Hodes said, "We are excited about the
combination of CareerMosaic and Headhunter.net to increase our share of the
rapidly growing on-line market for jobs. We expect to be a major customer of the
combined operation in providing our customers with the clear value leader in the
on-line recruiting market."
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Mr. Montgomery continued, "The combination will significantly expand our growth
potential by broadening our markets beyond Headhunter.net's focus on small
businesses, the middle market and recruiters. CareerMosaic's customer base
includes a strong presence in the Fortune 1000, agency, college and
international markets. In addition, our users will benefit from the additional
content of our combined sites since less than 10% of our users overlap based on
recent industry data.
"Our number one goal will be maximizing customer value through the combined
operations. We plan to quickly integrate the two companies and build a single
identity going forward. We believe our company will benefit from economies of
scale in operations, marketing and advertising to enhance future performance.
"We will have a single brand with a sales team focused on the combined entity
and product offerings. Following the combination, we will have one of the
largest direct sales forces in the industry with offices expanding into 15 major
markets. We believe the leverage in sales, marketing and advertising will be
important in accelerating our growth in the on-line recruiting market,"
concluded Mr. Montgomery.
About Headhunter.net
Headhunter.net (www.headhunter.net) is a leading national on-line recruiting
service that specializes in empowering candidates and corporations to manage the
job search process. Headhunter.net has more than 3 million users each month. The
site has more than 130,000 job listings posted and over 350,000 resumes. More
than 8,000 companies and recruiters post open positions in over 120 job
categories.
About Omnicom Group Inc.
Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC - news; www.omnicomgroup.com), the leading
marketing communications company in the world, consists of advertising agency
networks BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide and TBWA Worldwide. The group also
includes Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; Diversified Agency Services (DAS),
which operates a number of leading, independently branded companies in marketing
services and specialty communications; Omnicom Media Group, which includes two
leading international media buying and planning agencies, OMD and PhD; and
Communicade, which manages significant investments in leading internet and
digital media development companies.
Some of the preceding statements in this press release constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Company
intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors
created thereby. Examples of words indicating forward-looking statements include
"believes," "expects" and "will." These forward-looking statements reflect the
Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance,
but are subject to many uncertainties and factors relating to the Company's
operations and business environment which may cause the
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actual results of the Company to be materially different from any future results
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Please see
Headhunter.net's Form 10-K, as amended, for a list of such uncertainties and
factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise.
CONTACT:
Headhunter.net
Mark Partin, 770/349-2410
mark.partin@headhunter.net
or
Corporate Communications
J. Gil Fuqua Jr., 615/254-3376
gfuqua@corpcomminc.com
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