US telco AT&T has agreed to sell a majority stake in its phone directories business, including the Yellow Pages titles, to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in a deal worth US$950m.
AT&T said that Cerberus had agreed to acquire the AT&T…
US telco AT&T has agreed to sell a majority stake in its phone directories business, including the Yellow Pages titles, to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in a deal worth US$950m.
AT&T said that Cerberus had agreed to acquire the AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive business units, which include the phone directory online and print editions.
These will be transferred to a new entity, YP Holdings LLC. AT&T will receive a 47% stake in this company.
AT&T will receive US$750m in cash, a US$200m note and the stake in YP Holdings in exchange for the business units.
AT&T does not anticipate recording a material gain or loss as a result of this deal and expects that the transaction will have “a minimal effect” on its 2012 earnings.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in mid-year 2012.
Jose Gutierrez, president and CEO of AT&T Advertising Solutions, said the deal will allow AT&T to “focus on its core strategy of leadership in wireless, IP, cloud- and application-based services”.
AT&T’s financial advisers for the deal were BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. Its legal adviser was Sullivan & Cromwell.
TelecomFinance understands that Sculte Roth & Zabel was the legal adviser for Cerberus.
