Dice Holdings has acquired OilCareers, a recruitment site for oil & gas professionals in Europe from the Daily Mail and General Trust in a cash deal worth around $26m (£15.7m).

Dice Holdings, a provider of specialised websites for professional communities, currently serves the energy sector through Rigzone, which delivers content, data, advertising and career services to the oil & gas industry.

“The growth prospects are very promising for our energy vertical and the addition of OilCareers will help us capitalise faster on that opportunity,” says Michael Durney, president and chief executive officer of Dice Holdings. “This acquisition is an opportunity to move forward in Europe. OilCareers is a good strategic fit and provides critical mass for both brands to leverage.”

OilCareers was founded in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1999 and currently has about 800,000 unique monthly visitors and an extensive CV database, with most of its revenue generated in the UK.

“OilCareers is a real Aberdeen success story. As a true cornerstone in the local market, they’ve built the business by helping the oil & gas community meet their professional goals and talent needs,” says Paul Caplan, president of Rigzone.

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