Online jobs portal SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) this morning announced that it has increased its ownership stakes in Mexican job site OCC Mundial and another overseas venture in SEEK Asia.
The investments were funded via SEEK's cash and debt facilities, with the SEEK Asia investment increasing its ownership interest from 75.6% to 80.8%.
The headline news though is the fact SEEK has almost assumed total ownership of Mexican jobs website OCC Mundial after lifting its stake from 56.4% to 98.2%. Mexico is already one of the world's largest economies, with potential to grow quickly into the future on the back of economic reform and political stability.
This fact has evidently not escaped the attention of SEEK's management team which is now the effective controller of the country's market-leading jobs website. Mexico City alone has a population almost equivalent to Australia and OCC Mundial has around 90,000 jobs listed on any single day to serve a total population of some 123 million.
The Mexican website has built its market-leading position over the last 16 years and its dominance is what will attract recruiters and candidates long into the future. This network effect and competitive advantage in such a large market should compound over time as job seekers are attracted to the site with the most jobs and recruiters are attracted to the site with the best candidates.
Mexico is the second most populous country in Latin America, second only to Brazil which is the other Latin American nation SEEK is successfully targeting for growth via its Catho.com Brazilian website. It has a staggering 310,000 active job vacancies listed on an average day.
SEEK's other main overseas interests are in Asia and especially China via its Zhaopin.com website that is listed on the New York Stock exchange.
For Australian investors with some spare cash SEEK looks to tick the boxes for big potential; overseas exposure, experienced management and some powerful digital tailwinds. It's no secret though and selling for $16.45, SEEK is on around 28x analysts' estimates for this financial year's earnings.
Other operators in the online classified space include REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) and Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR).
All three of these businesses have produced truly eye-watering returns to investors who recognised their potential early enough….
There is another ASX-listed stock in the online classifieds space also growing rapidly into Asia. The difference? Well this business might genuinely be the SEEK of tomorrow not today, and you can read all about it in a FREE report below…
