Yellow Pages Group Settles Structure, Looks Ahead

MEDIA RELEASE
26 January 2011
For immediate release

Yellow Pages Group Settles Structure, Looks Ahead

Yellow Pages Group has successfully concluded a capital restructuring which brings certainty for stakeholders and customers.

The company now has a capital value of $750m, which gives it strong long-term sustainability on its recent annual profit performance of $143m.

The Group’s senior lenders have taken ownership of the company through a restructuring which will see the trading businesses sold into a new corporate framework with new debt facilities. A total of $1.05 billion of debt has been written off, allowing the new entity to operate on a sound commercial basis given its highly satisfactory trading performance.

The new structure is accompanied by the appointment of a new Board of Directors which will be led by experienced directories executive, Andrew Day as Chairman, and includes two highly regarded New Zealand directors, Brent Impey and Liz Coutts. Also on the Board are two experienced overseas directors – Scott Pomeroy from Colorado and Paul Wilson of Sydney.

A former non-executive Director at Yellow® until April 2010, Mr Day brings significant international experience and expertise in telecommunications, online media, directories, advertising and investment, all of which will be a key asset for the business in its next phase of development.

He is a former Chief Executive of Telstra’s Yellow and White Pages division, Sensis, and also a former CEO of the pan-Europeon directory company, Truvo.

Chairman Andrew Day said he was delighted that the new corporate structure could now provide certainty for staff, for customers and external stakeholders, all of whom could have confidence in the Board’s commitment to build on the promising profit performance demonstrated by Yellow in difficult trading conditions.

“We are focussed on growth and increased profitability, and will be moving quickly to build on the strong operational fundamentals that the Yellow Pages Group has maintained throughout the global recession.”

“The new capital structure means we can move forward with optimism and focus on enhancing the value of our brands through further investment and operational efficiencies,” Mr Day said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media