Cytiva, the Canadian talent acquisition technology company, is being acquired by Taleo.
The $11 million (Canadian; $11.1 million U.S.) deal is 
expected to close early next quarter. When complete, the purchase will bring Taleo some 250 mid- and small-market employers, strengthening that sector of the company’s business.
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Cytiva started in 1995 as a tech-sector job board, introducing its SonicRecruit ATS several years later. Over the years, Cytiva has added modules for onboarding, performance management, and others, retaining its focus on talent acquisition. All Cytiva software is true SaaS.
Michael Boese, Taleo’s SVP of its small- and mid-sized business group, said Cytiva is a good fit for Taleo, in part because both companies are focused on SaaS technology provisioning. And because Cytiva’s focus in the SMB market is where growth opportunities are strongest.
The announcement of the acquisition says it “solidifies Taleo’s leadership position in talent management for small and medium-sized businesses, and will extend Taleo’s customer base that will benefit from Taleo’s unified talent management platform.”
Cytiva customers were told of the acquisition and provided information detailing Taleo’s intention to continue supporting the Cytiva platform through the transition. Boese said he expects that by mid-2012, all the current Cytiva customers will make the transition to Taleo.
“Our intention is to honor the contracts,” Boese said, “and work with the customers to convert them to a Taleo customer. We have a history of making the conversion process work for the customer,” he added.
Cytiva has about 50 employees and four U.S. offices. He couldn’t say how many people would be hired by Taleo, but he noted the company is in an expansion mode — it acquired World Wide Compensation and Learn.com last year.
“We continue to look at scaling opportunities,” he said.