The story is all over the financial press today that AT&T will acquire BellSouth for US$67 billion. Based on 2005 revenues, the combined Yellow Pages divisions of the two companies will have total revenues of about US$5.8 billion. I'd say…
A long list of potential suitors for Telefonica Publicidad e Informacion has emerged that invokes Claude Raines from "Casablanca": "Round up the usual suspects !" The parade of private equities whose names are listed among those at least interested in…
Spanish telecom Telefonica may be ready to sell its 59.9 percent stake in the directory publisher Telefonica Publicidad e Informacion. One of TPI's apparent suitors is Apax Group, which is a former part owner of Britain's Yell Group, along with…
Interesting story in yesterday's National Post (Canada). The topic is not entirely new, the possible acquisition of a U.S. publisher by Canada's Yellow Pages Group. The article does provide a sourced comment from YPG's CFO, and it offers some detailed…
Listened to Eniro's 2005 earnings call yesterday. A number of interesting details, which we will explore in Local Media Journal next week. One key revelation was that print revenues in Norway are going to decline by 10 percent in 2006.…
Just saw this article in the Dayton Business Journal about The Berry Company's growing online sales force. As we wrote in the last edition of Local Media Journal , Berry recently signed a deal with Marchex to upgrade its guaranteed…
Not long after completing its acquisition of Phone Directories' Canadian operations, U.S. buyout firm Hicks Muse is pushing an aggressive expansion into bigger Canadian markets. Next week, Canadian Phone Directories, the Hicks-backed company led by industry veteran Olivier Vincent, will…
Yell Group just posted solid numbers for the first nine months of its financial year, which ends on March 31. Its U.S. unit, Yellow Book, continues to post double digit gains, even when acquisitions are taken out of the picture.…
AT&T Yellow Pages has contributed to the debate over syndicated research by releasing its own assessment of how it has done so far in its markets measured as part of the ongoing third-party syndicated usage program.AT&T Yellow Pages (formerly SBC)…
Yellow Book announced today that it has acquired Click Forward, a Coral Gables, Florida-based search engine marketing company. Terms were not disclosed. Yellow Book plans to use the assets gained through the acquisition to develop a local search product to…
Swedish search and directory company Eniro has signed an agreement with Woize International to use the U.K.-based firm's technology to offer a click-to-call feature on its online product porfolio. You can read the press release here. Eniro plans to offer…
As expected, the merger of R.H. Donnelley Corp. and Dex Media closed today. Dex Media is no more, and RHD is now the third-largest U.S. directory publisher, with combined revenues of roughly US$2.5 billion. You can read more about the…
It was reported late last week that Verizon has settled the strike by 300 CWA workers in upstate New York. Here is an article with details.
YellowPages.com has launched its long-awaited advertising campaign to generate awareness and organic traffic. The site is jointly owned by AT&T and BellSouth, and the agency handling the campaign, GSD&M in Austin, also does work for AT&T Yellow Pages (formerly SBC).…
Having just returned from a Yellow Book "summit" with the national ad community, it is fair to say that the national agencies are viewing the company in a new light. The reason? Yellow Book showed significant strength in the first…
This article appeared today in the Guardian Newspaper in the U.K., regarding the ongoing review of the rate cap imposed on Yell in the United Kingdom. The Competition Commission has issued a report indicating it may extend or expand the…
It's official. The RHD-Dex Media merger has been approved by shareholders. Here is the release. The deal, which combines two of the top five U.S. incumbent publishers, is expected to formally close at the end of this month. Here is…
Striking Verizon Information Services workers in upstate New York found an interesting way to express their displeasure at the pace and manner of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. You can read about it here. The two sides have…
Verizon Information Services was out of the gate quickly with a press release touting its usage share leadership position in Manhattan, Washington, DC, the Bronx and Brooklyn, citing data from the Yellow Pages Market Reporter, a new syndicated usage service…
The Australian is reporting that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is planning to challenge Sensis' growing position in Australian directories, classifieds and local search with its own "listings" product. The product will be powered by News Corp.'s latest asset, Australian Local…
