The Canadian Press, 2010
MONTREAL – Directory company Yellow Media Inc. (TSX:YLO.UN) is continuing its push for more digital growth with the acquisition of Vancouver-based search engine and directory publisher Canpages in a $225-million deal.
If approved by the federal Competition Bureau, the deal will combine two of Canada's biggest publishers of advertising directories and local web search engines.
"Essentially, what we're looking to do is accelerate our business transformation to the digital world," president and CEO Marc Tellier said in an interview.
The Canpages acquisition was announced at the same time the Montreal company said it had struck a deal to sell its U.S. operations, Ziplocal in which it will keep a minority interest.
Canpages is the latest acquisition for the publisher of the Yellow Pages directories as it deals with the rise of online advertising and online search engines, which pose a challenge to traditional printed directories.
Tellier said 23 per cent of Canpages' revenue comes from digital sources, while about 20 per cent of Yellow Media's revenues are expected from digital applications in 2010. He said it's too soon to project what annual digital revenues of both companies would be.
"This really allows us to capitalize on the online momentum that Canpages has built," Tellier said of the acquisition. "There's clearly an opportunity to grow the online reach."
Canpages, which publishes 84 printed directories, also operates the Canpages.ca search engine and employs about 700 people, including more than 450 sales representatives.
To acquire Canpages, Yellow Media will pay $75 million in cash and issue $150 million worth of promissory notes to an investor group led by private equity firm HM Capital Partners. Read More >>
April 20th, 2010 | 
Author: 
Posted in 
Tags: 