Less pricey but no less significant for the two firms involved, hotgroup plc is continuing to build up its list of online recruitment brands with the £3m acquisition of PlanetRecruit.
As Steve Pankhurst of Friends Reunited reminds us (see column, p13), there has been talk of another possible big sell-off.
Yet, nothing has been quite as high profile as the question marks over the value of deals made at the height of the dotcom boom by big media names such as Bertlesmann, Vivendi Universal and AOL Time Warner.
As the market and value of the investments have fallen, investors have all been under scrutiny for deals made in those days. However, it is unclear whether early activity this year heralds a period of new-media acquisitions and mergers.
According to a spokesperson for the group, Rank's purchase of Blue Square signals the end of its own restructuring and its determination to develop a multi-gaming offering through multiple channels.
Elsewhere, it could be a good time to buy. As bright minds in the City suggest, once the stock market suffers a series of falls it could be a good time to invest.
Harvey Sinclair, founder and managing director of hotgroup, which bought PlanetRecruit in a share deal, says: "I believe there is a window of opportunity that also applies to the stock market. In that case, it could be a risky buying opportunity, but with recruitment online there is plenty of room for growth."
Hotgroup is still looking at further acquisitions, says Sinclair, and he hopes to expand its range of specialist brands, from youth jobs site Hotrecruit to Rex.co.uk. Last year, hotgroup was formed through an effective reverse takeover of RexOnline.
The market for travel acquisitions could get even better in light of events in the Middle East, says Nigel Addision Smith, chief financial officer at ebookers. He says the timing of its purchase of Travelbag was dictated by the move of back office operations to India. "You have to get your own house in order before you add to it," he adds.
Sinclair has several reasons to be confident of growth in the online jobs market. "We haven't even seen the full growth yet, as online business has been driven by the job seeker so far and HR departments have been slower to adopt it. But they are getting to grips with it."
So Sinclair sees the timing as right for his business to build market share when, two years ago, it would have come at a higher price. "When the online recruitment market was at its frothiest, the big institutions and investors were not interested in the sector. People were taking part in a land grab at the expense of investors' funds.
"In general, I believe half of the businesses that went bust had solid business plans, but didn't manage the growth, business or timing right," he adds.