AT&T (NYSE: T) has put the final touches on the sale of its Yellow Pages business, which is known as AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive, to Cerberus Capital, illustrating the ongoing trend of service providers shedding their directory businesses.
Under the terms of the previously announced agreement, AT&T got almost $750 million in cash, a $200 million note and a 47-percent equity interest in the new venture which is called YP Holdings LLC.
The service provider said it expects the sale will have a minimal effect on 2012 earnings, and does not expect to record a material gain or loss.
Selling a major stake in its Yellow Pages business to Cerberus is part of a broader effort to improve what AT&T CFO John Stephens said during the company's Q1 2012 earnings call "our overall growth profile by looking at opportunities to divest or restructure low performing and non-strategic assets."
Outside of this sale, AT&T and other fellow ILECs like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) are looking for ways to get rid of their directory businesses.
Citing the growing use of web-based directories, AT&T recently asked the Louisiana Public Service Commission for permission to stop delivering its directory pages to every household in the state.
For more:
- see the release
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