(Yicai Global) Sept. 17 -- China's largest classifieds platform 58.Com, which is in the process of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange, is to purchase online human resources solutions provider Mofang HR for an undisclosed sum to take advantage of the demand in flexible recruitment brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm today.

Beijing-based Mofang HR, to be renamed 58 Mofang, will aim to increase its annual recruitment scale to one million people from 100,000 in three years by integrating with 58.Com's resources, the Beijing-based firm told Yicai Global.

Mofang HR, which provides companies with complete online recruitment solutions such as remote interviews, has completed five rounds of financing since it was set up in March 2015. It raised CNY100 million (USD14.8 million) in the latest B+ round in 2018 led by Shanghai-based ShareLink Capital.

The human resources market has a lot of potential, Zhang Jianguo, founder of Renrui Human Resources Technology Holdings, told Yicai Global. The pandemic has made flexible recruiting models more and more recognized by governments, companies and job seekers. As the economic recovery in the second half becomes more certain, the demand for flexible employment will continue to grow, he added.

58.Com is spreading itself too thin, said consultant Gu Junhui. Its development direction is not clear, which is a serious issue in the mobile Internet era.

Last month, the second-hand goods, jobs and housing listings platform announced that it was to end its seven-year journey on the NYSE and proceed with a USD8.7 billion privatization deal with a consortium of investors led by the company's Chief Executive Yao Jinbo. The delisting should be completed by year-end, it said on Sept. 7.

Delisting is not a favorable choice, but it can buy the company some time to save itself, Gu said.

58.Com, which has recently expanded into real estate brokerage, recruitment, used car sales and education, makes most of its money from membership fees and online marketing services. However, the company's revenue growth has been on the decline for the past five years. Last year it logged an 18.6 percent rise year on year to CNY15.6 billion (USD2.3 billion), a substantial drop from 2018's 30 percent growth.

The firm's stock price [NYSE: WUBA] showed barely any movement yesterday and closed at USD55.70, with a market capitalization of USD8.3 billion. That share price is 40 percent less than the record high of USD89.90 set in May 2018.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor