Reuters (05/11/12) Nadia Damouni; Soyoung Kim

Monster Worldwide Inc. has drawn interest from a number of potential buyers, reportedly including private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, although at least one would-be suitor, LinkedIn Corp., has apparently decided not to pursue a deal after an initial look. Monster, which runs Monster.com and HotJobs.com Web sites, said in March it retained Stone Key Partners and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to review strategic alternatives, including selling all or part of the company. The company reportedly plans to send out financial information to interested parties by the end of next week.

The sale talks come as Monster’s model of job ads is facing new competition from social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Online jobs firms have been buffeted by broader macro-economic challenges as have traditional staffing companies. The industry has seen a recovery in U.S. demand for workers, but softer staffing markets in Europe.