Corporate Service Group In Merger Talks With Carlisle

British recruitment firm Corporate Services Group which operates brands such as sales specialists Austin Benn, the major high street brand Blue Arrow, and property and construction recruiters ABC Contract Services , had announced that it is in merger talks with rival the Carlisle Group.

If the merger goes ahead a new UK registered holding company would be created to acquire Corporate Services Group and Carlisle Group and would seek floatation on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The new company would generate revenue of nearly £1 billion ($1.96 billion), helping boost its shares price.Corporate Services will get 47 percent of the shares of the new company while Carlisle will get 53 percent.

Carlisle, which provides temporary and permanent staff and is primarily based in the UK, had sales of £370 million and earnings (before interest and tax) of £5.6 million in its last full year to March 2007.

Conservative Party deputy chairman and Belize-based billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, who owns 29.7 percent of the shares in Corporate Services and 74.3 percent in Belize-registered Carlisle, is backing the deal.

The firms said the deal offers significant potential cost savings and synergy benefits.