Yellowbook Acquires ypOne

Yellowbook announced today it has acquired the Louisiana and Texas directories of ypOne, not long after ypOne sold its Canadian properties to Canpages. This deal is yet another suggestion that many U.S. independent publishers are struggling in the current tough economy, and players like Yellowbook and Canpages are in a position to acquire attractive assets, presumably at much more reasonable prices than a few years ago, when trading multiples for strong independents were high.

The ypOne deal involves 20 directories with distribution of 1.4 million and revenues of US$14 million. The publisher was formerly owned by the private equity firms Frontenac and BMO Halyard Partners. In August 2008 ypOne was acquired in a management-led buyout.