Stover Back in the YP Game

Former NYNEX Information Services (now part of Verizon) CEO Matt Stover finds himself back at the helm of a Yellow Pages publishing company, albeit a much smaller one. Yesterday, Texas-based independent publisher ypOne announced that Stover has taken over as chairman and CEO of the company, which has operations in the United States and Canada. You can read the announcement here.

According to The Kelsey Group's Global Yellow Pages 2005 report, ypOne has more than 50 directory titles in the U.S. and Canada, with revenues estimated at around US$30 million. Its largest directory is the Golden Triangle book in Texas, with distribution of 232,000 copies. The company is owned by the private equity firms Frontenac and BMO Halyard Partners. Hiring Stover, who has been on the company's board since 2004, as CEO might signal ypOne's desire to step up its efforts to grow through acquisitions and new product launches. It may also signal a greater commitment to developing a viable digital strategy. At NYNEX, Stover oversaw the launch of BigYellow, one of the early Internet Yellow Pages directories, which was later absorbed into SuperPages.