LinkedIn Considering Buying Monster 

LinkedIn is mulling over the purchase of job site giant Monster, according to a report.

Monster, which retained Stone Key Partners and Bank of America in March to pursue the sale of the company, has since received “expressions of interest” from LinkedIn and tech-focused buyout firm Silver Lake, reports Reuters, which cites unnamed sources.

A rep from Monster declined to comment on the report. LinkedIn reps could not be reached at press time.

The report prompted a 19% jump in Monster stock Friday afternoon. At press time, the stock was up about 16%. Monster, owner of HotJobs, has seen its business suffer in recent years as LinkedIn, among others, become bigger players in the space. Monster’s revenues for 2011 were $250 million, down $250 million from the year before. The company has attempted to reverse the decline with BeKnown, a Facebook-based professional network that it launched last June. BeKnown is not the only such network on Facebook, though. BranchOut hit 25 million users in April.

LinkedIn, meanwhile, has been on a buying spree, acquiring both SlideShare and Rapportive within the past few months.

Image courtesy of Flickr, TheSeafarer