Today Taleo announced the acquisition of privately-held, Europe-based Jobpartners for $38 million (€25 million) in cash. With this acquisition, Taleo strengthens its European presence in talent management, as Jobpartners has a presence in 50 countries and 28 languages and is also a talent management vendor. The deal is expected to close in early Q3. Jobpartners has only 68 customers, but these customers include Deutsche Post DHL, Nike EMEA, Rabobank, and 16 Global 500 companies. Jobpartners also has a R&D facility in Krakow, Poland and a support center in Scotland that no doubt figured prominently in Taleo’s acquisition decision. In terms of technology, the fit is a good one, because Jobpartners is SaaS-only. Taleo said that it is in the process of evaluating Jobpartners’ technology, but this acquisition is not about acquiring new technology — it’s about doubling Taleo’s customer base in Europe and becoming a known European player in the talent management field. Customer success teams made up of Taleo and Jobpartners staff are in place to meet with Jobparters customers to help them get familiar with Taleo. Taleo will continue to support the existing Jobpartners platform for a while as plans are put in place for the transition.

This decision adds to Taleo’s plan to grow by acquisition. Jobpartners joins Vurv, Learn.com, and Worldwide Compensation as companies that Taleo has acquired to expand its geographic reach and its footprint in the Four Pillars Of Talent Management. This is a good move by Taleo, because it makes the company a very visible international player. Now the challenge is to hold on to the Jobpartners customers, since these customers know they will have to change to a new application and may shop around unless Taleo offers a particularly sweet deal.