U.S. staffing provider On Assignment Inc agreed to purchase privately held rival Apex Systems Inc for $600 million, including debt, and said it expects the deal to "significantly" add to the company's 2012 earnings.On Assignment shares, which have more than doubled in nearly six months, rose 31 percent to $17.87 in trading after the bell. They closed at $13.68 on Tuesday on the Nasdaq."The transaction also achieves On Assignment's five-year strategic plan to reach $1 billion in annual revenue three years ahead of schedule," Chief Executive Peter Dameris said in a statement.The company, which provides flexible and permanent staffing, posted $597 million in revenue for the year ended December 2011.
On Assignment, Inc. is a diversified professional staffing firm providing flexible and permanent staffing solutions in specialty skills, including laboratory/scientific, healthcare/nursing/physician, medical financial, information technology (IT) and engineering. Shares of ASGN fell by 0.23% or $-0.04/share to $17.02. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $6.27 and as high as $18.25. On average, 250276 shares of ASGN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 161093.
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