History
In 1967, with no capital and no clients, Andrew J. McKelvey founded Telephone Marketing Programs as a “directional marketing company” focused on Yellow Pages advertising for large, multi-site clients. In 1993, seeking ways to expand its expertise, TMP entered into the recruitment advertising business through the acquisition of Bentley, Barnes & Lynn. Within five years, through accelerated organic growth and strategic acquisitions, TMP Worldwide had become one of the largest recruitment advertising agencies in the world.
TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications quickly earned its place among the top recruitment advertising firms by offering comprehensive human capital solutions and through its reputation as an early adopter of digital technology. It was the pursuit of innovative technologies that led to the acquisition of two of the earliest pioneers in the online careers space, The Monster Board and Online Career Center (OCC), in 1995.
TMP Worldwide went public in 1996 and its career websites grew and eventually merged as Monster.com in 1999. To convey its full focus on maximizing the potential growth and value of Monster, TMP Worldwide was officially renamed Monster Worldwide in 2003, with Monster and TMP Worldwide as “sister divisions.” To further clarify the evolution of businesses with separate missions, the original Yellow Pages directional marketing business was sold in 2005.
On August 31, 2006, a team of TMP Worldwide senior management and VSS Mezzanine Partners, an investment fund managed by Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), a private equity and mezzanine capital fund management company, purchased the assets of TMP Worldwide Advertising and Communications, LLC, encompassing North America and India from Monster Worldwide.
Veronis Suhler Stevenson (www.vss.com) is dedicated to investing in the media, communications, information, and education industries in North America and Europe. VSS provides capital for buyouts, recapitalization, growth financings, and strategic acquisitions to companies and management teams with a goal to build companies both organically and through a focused add-on acquisition program.