Florida-Based Temps Firm AccuStaff Acquires London Company.(Originated from The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville)

Jun. 5--AccuStaff Inc., which has expanded aggressively across North America over the past three years, announced its first expansion across the ocean yesterday.

Jacksonville-based AccuStaff, a staffing, consulting and outsourcing company, said it acquired Badenoch & Clark Ltd., a London-based provider of temporary staffing services for accounting, banking and legal firms in the United Kingdom.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. B&C is expected to have revenues of $50 million this year, and AccuStaff said the deal is expected to increase its earnings per share.

"We believe it is both the right time to enter the United Kingdom and that we found the right company. We will continue to selectively look for attractive opportunities throughout Europe and in particular the United Kingdom, while proceeding with our aggressive acquisition strategy in the U.S.," said a statement by AccuStaff President and CEO Derek E. Dewan.

The B&C deal is the second acquisition announced by AccuStaff this week. The company also acquired a U.S. company, Training Delivery Services Inc., which supplies technical and professional service employees for the telecommunications industry and had revenues of $40 million last year.

AccuStaff previously made 54 acquisitions and now has more than 900 offices across the country, with projected revenues of about $2 billion this year.

The company in March made its first foreign acquisition when it bought Computer Action Inc., a Toronto-based information technology services firm. Dewan has said that AccuStaff's foreign acquisition strategy will focus on English-speaking countries.

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