Dubai jobs website sold for $9m to India-based investor

Online recruitment firm Jobs in Dubai has been sold to an India-based investor for $9 million (Dh33 million). The firm, which claims to be one of the largest online recruiting portals in the Middle East, announced Tuesday that the deal was inked on June 7. The company is now moving to finalise the sale of the eight-year-old company that claims to have the largest database in GCC and UAE of both jobseekers and companies. Nofel Izz, Jobs in Dubai CEO, told Gulf News in an earlier interview that the aim of the sale was to find a larger entity that could take the success of the company to a larger audience. Article continues below Izz said he wanted to sell "to someone who would be able to understand the principles of the company and will be able to take it to a heightened success". Jobs in Dubai was founded by Izz who first incorporated JobsInDubai.com in 2002 and three years later opened offices in Dubai. "Now we have an office in India, Dubai [relocating to the free zone] and Canada," he said. Expatriate demand The company is making money in Dubai where demand for expatriate expertise and labour continues to draw workers from around the world, although to a lesser extent than in boom times. "The company has been profitable for the past many years… it has specialised paid services such as professional networking, profile search ranking, picture CV snap shot and more," he said. "Gross annual revenue tops $2 million and will only get better as the Qatar markets open up." New Jobs in Dubai owner Ashish Agarwal, who is also CEO and owner of Tanisha International in India, said he plans to take the online jobs portal to a new level. "Let's be honest, the traditional practice of dropping a paper CV at the receptionist's desk is a thing of the past. Just like an ever-increasing amount of people go to the ‘net for current events, more and more rely on it when on a job hunt," Agarwal said in a statement. "One of the main changes JID will undertake in the very near future is a strategy to significantly heighten its timely responsiveness to its subscribers. Features like live chat access to its consultants will play an important role in that regard," he said. Downturn Future growth will be backed by industry sectors that are emerging from the world financial crisis and are looking for workers. "Obviously, the job market experienced a downturn beginning in late 2008. However, a year later, after the dust settled, we began to see a turnaround and the turnaround now in early 2011 is gaining further momentum, especially in terms of organizations turning to more strategic recruiting. Take the construction sector as an example. The job outlook in this sector is more than promising in that attention has turned away from real estate to more sustainable infrastructure projects," Agarwal said. Future expansion in the region will include Qatar where the company will move carefully to grow its reach. "Indeed. JID has already secured the "jobsinqatar" domain. But we will manage growth carefully, focusing on being "best of breed" in what we are currently doing before casting our eyes elsewhere," he said. The finalisation of the Jobs in Dubai acquisition should happen very soon, he said. "The final due diligence phase of the transaction is already complete, so we would give it two to three more weeks to finalise," Agarwal said.