KKR to sell Japanese staff agency for $721 million

U.S. investment firm KKR & Co LP will sell Japanese temporary staffing agency Intelligence Holdings to a domestic peer, Temp Holdings <2181.T>, for 68 billion yen ($721 million) after almost doubling the value of the company.

KKR paid 35 billion yen to buy Intelligence from Usen Corp, a cable broadcaster, in 2010, its first investment in Japan with a controlling stake.

Temp Holdings will have revenue of more than 320 billion yen and more than 10,000 employees after the acquisition, which is awaiting regulatory approval, according to a statement issued by KKR, Temp and Intelligence.

Market leader Recruit Holdings made revenue of 493.4 billion yen from its staffing business in the 2011 financial year.

Intelligence, which employs about 6,000, now has equity value of 51 billion yen, up from 32.5 billion yen at a time of KKR's purchase.

($1 = 94.3400 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Shinichi Saoshiro and Stephen Coates)