Reuters is reporting that “people familiar with the matter” have told them LinkedIn, the popular social network devoted to professional networking, may be interested in purchasing Monster Worldwide, the company that owns the job search websites monster.com and hotjobs.com.

In early March, Monster revealed that it would be retaining Stone Key Partners and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to review its financial situation. This “review of strategic alternatives” included the possibility of selling Monster Worldwide. Silver Lake Partners, a private technology investment company, was also named as a party interested in the possible sale.

From the Reuters report:

The company, which has roughly $950 million market capitalization, plans to send out financial information to the interested parties by the end of next week, they said.

Representatives for Monster and LinkedIn declined to comment. Silver Lake, Stone Key Partners and Bank of America had no immediate comment.

So, an anonymous source and no comment from the companies. Not much to go on, but the story has a ring of truth to it. LinkedIn is good at connecting employers and potential employees through social media, but integrating an established job search engine would be an interesting next step for the company. LinkedIn has been on a roll lately, posting impressive quarterly figures and increasing its mobile presence by releasing a well-regarded iPad app.

What do you think? How would a social network such as LinkedIn use a job search engine? Leave a comment below and let us know your ideas.

(via Reuters)