Recruit Holdings’ revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 increased 18.9% year on year to ¥1.0453 trillion, setting a new quarterly record. The growth was driven by Indeed, positioned as the core of the HR Technology business.
In Recruit Holdings’ results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027, announced in August 2026, revenue increased 18.9% year on year to ¥1.0453 trillion, setting a new quarterly record.
One of the businesses driving these results is the HR Technology business, centered on Indeed. Recruit acquired Indeed in 2012 and has pursued business expansion under the Recruit umbrella.
Matsui Katsunari (松井克成), who published the book “Introduction to Startup M&A for Entrepreneurs: Another Way to Maximize Enterprise Value” in July 2026, discusses the challenges facing startup M&A in Japan and the keys to successful M&A that can be learned from Recruit’s acquisition of Indeed.
The factors said to be impeding the expansion of startup M&A in Japan include a market environment in which IPOs were the mainstream exit strategy, the barriers to acquisitions posed by large companies with a strong preference for building businesses in-house, and sellers’ psychological resistance. These have been recognized as longstanding challenges.