Stepstone
ASA is the leading online recruitment and career services
company in Europe. The Company offers employers the opportunity
to describe job opportunities on its website which is visited
by thousands of job seekers every week or to search Stepstone’s
database of resumes for potential candidates. Based in Oslo, Norway,
Stepstone currently has operations throughout Europe.
Stepstone wanted to raise a significant amount of marketing
and brand advertising money that could be used to distance itself
from its European competition, prepare for additional competition
from US players and bring a US/European perspective to a promising
young company. WWC helped Stepstone plan for the offering, organized
a “road show” to meet potential investors and provided
advice on the negotiation and structuring of the transaction.
This financing was complex due to the significant problems created
by Norwegian law in structuring convertible preferred stock. Stepstone
raised $22 million from this private placement to be used for
the expansion of the company’s operations through acquisition,
for advertising and marketing, and to provide liquidity for some
shareholders.
Stepstone completed an IPO in March 2000 with Morgan Stanley
as the lead underwriter and currently trades on the Oslo and London
exchanges.
