Shakeup at Monster: Will It Be Sold?

By: Jennifer Saba Monster Worldwide, the parent company of the online recruitment site Monster.com, reorganized executives and their responsibilities on Wednesday. Analysts called it a major move but split on whether it means the operation may soon go up for sale.

Most notably, the company named Timothy Yates as executive vice president and CFO. He was also appointed a director to the board. Yates succeeds Lanny Baker, who, according to a release, decided to leave the company to pursue other interests. Yates comes from Symbol Technologies where he served as CFO.

Doug Klinger, president of Careers North America, is leaving the company as well.

Steve Pogorzelski, formerly group president/international, has been named executive vice president, global sales and customer development. Brad Baker was appointed executive vice president, product, marketing, and customer service. He was previously president of product, technology, and service. Darko Dejanovic, who recently joined the company as senior vice president, global chief information officer, is now executive vice president, global chief information officer. Mark Stoever is now executive vice president. He was formerly senior vice president, general manager.

In a note released to investors this morning, Goldman Sachs' Peter Appert wrote that while the change at Monster was "significant" he does not believe it's a sign the company will be sold. Appert wrote that Lanny Baker was a key architect in installing financial discipline at Monster and his departure is a "notable loss for the company."

For months there has been speculation that Monster Worldwide is on the block, which has propped up the stock. "We could see downward pressure on the shares given softer revenue growth trends in the U.S. recruitment ad market," according to the note.

Wachovia analyst John Janedis wrote in a note that Yates connection to Monster's CEO Sal Iannuzzi by Symbol Technologies could portend a sale. "While it's easy to draw conclusions that Monster is more likely to be sold because of the Symbol connection, we think it's too soon to make that call," he wrote.