HM Capital Acquires Remaining U.S. Portion of PDC

HM Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Phone Directories Co. operations based in Orem, Utah. PDC publishes directories in 18 states covering 137 titles. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

According to a prepared statement by Peter Brodsky, a partner at HM Capital: “The acquisition of PDC builds on our firm’s long and successful history in the directories sector and the media industry in general. PDC has built a strong leadership position in its markets and is currently engaged in a number of impressive growth initiatives.” 

Leading the new unit will be industry veteran Michael Bynum, who will become CEO of PDC after the close of the deal. Bynum was a founding member of Transwestern where he was the executive vice president of sales. The decision to place Bynum in charge is a wise move given his background in running a successful independent sales organization. 

Brodsky also indicated, “We are looking forward to implementing our proven change capital strategies to support the company’s continued growth, offer quality products to the company’s existing markets and new underserved ones, and deliver value for our investors.” 

HM Capital’s other directory purchases include Yell in 2001, and the acquisition of Phone Directories Canada, now Canpages, from PDC in December 2005. The deal creates a strong U.S./Canadian footprint for HM Capital. It is unclear at this time if the U.S. operations will be blended with the Canpages operation or run as a separate unit. This is an interesting move as U.S. companies have divested themselves from their Canadian operations (Verizon and PDC); now a major investment firm with a Canadian operation is making the move to put the two pieces back together. 

Given HM Capital’s aggressive expansion plans with its Canpages operations, it would not be surprising for PDC to expand its operations either through the opening of new markets or through further acquisitions in the U.S.