The once-dominant recruitment and employment firm received a buyout offer from Dutch staffing agency Randstad Holding Company on Aug. 9. Randstad is offering Monster shareholders $3.40 per share in cash, representing a premium of nearly 23% above the stock's Aug. 8 closing price, for a total deal consideration of $429 million. Shares surged more than 26% on the day of the announcement.

The proposal turned out to be just the beginning of a narrative which would push shares even higher by the month's end. Also on Aug. 9, privately held newspaper owner MediaNews Group (MNG) revealed itself as having acquired an 11.6% stake in Monster over the preceding two months, and it urged fellow shareholders to reject Randstad's offer, citing what it believes to be undervaluation of Monster's assets.

This sparked a series of back and forth open letters addressed to shareholders, issued by Monster's management and MediaNews, and as of mid-September, the sparring is still continuing.

MNG has argued that Monster's board and management team conducted the sale in hasty fashion, without a formal auction process. It also asserts that Monster is underselling itself, and could increase its value by reducing expenses by $100 million to $150 million, selling off underperforming assets, curbing capital expenditures, and simplifying its product offering.

In rebuttal, Monster Worldwide's executives insist that they've already trimmed operating expenses and capital expenditures to the core, and divested all nonperforming assets worth considering. In the most recent exchange between the companies, Monster's management summed up its point of view as follows: "MNG is not offering Monster stockholders anything for their shares. Instead, MNG, whose ownership in Monster was only established in July and early August of 2016, is asking stockholders to reject an all-cash, premium offer in exchange for the hope that an undisclosed strategy led by their yet-to-be-selected director candidates will deliver significantly greater value sometime in the future."