It was announced on Monday that AT&T (NYSE:
T
) has made a deal with Cerberus Capital Management that will see
the private equity firm take control of the long-declining Yellow
Pages.
With consumers able to get pretty much any piece of business
information they need from the internet with a simple Google
(NASDAQL GOOG) search, the Yellow Pages, particularly in print,
has been a dying brand for some years. Much like storefront
travel agents, or the guys that put saxophone solos in rock
records, the Yellow Pages just isn't necessary anymore.
Apparently, Cerberus disagrees though. In exchange for the
brand, AT&T will receive roughly $750 million cash, a $2090
million note, and a 47% stake in new venture YP Holdings.
Perhaps we're missing something, but that sounds incredibly
generous for a company that is about as useful as a street
lamplighter in this day and age.
AT&T was keen tom point out that the acquisition does not
include the AdWorks business, but it gives Cerberus businesses
that generated $3.3 billion in revenue in 2011. That includes a
print directory of about 1,200 Real Yellow Pages, and a local ad
network reaching 71 million monthly unique visitors.
"It enables AT&T to focus on its core strategy of
leadership in wireless, IP, cloud- and application-based
services," Jose Gutierrez, CEO of AT&T Advertising Solutions,
said in a statement. "At the same time, it gives our advertising
customers, partners and developers continued access to strong
advertising and search innovation and performance."
In a research report published on April 3, Trefis stated that
AT&T will launch the first LTE-enabled Windows Phone, the
Nokia (NYSE:
NOK
) Lumia 900, for $99.99 on April 8. At this price point, not only
is the high-end smartphone half as expensive as the latest iPhone
4S but is also slightly less expensive than the two-year old
iPhone 4.
"Verizon has already made its aggressive LTE intentions clear
by announcing that it plans to introduce only those phones this
year that support its high-speed network. Moreover, it has also
increased its year-end LTE coverage target to 260 million
Americans from the 250 million target earlier. Currently, it is
well ahead of AT&T, whose LTE network covers roughly 75
million Americans compared to Verizon's 200 million. AT&T
plans to double that coverage to 150 million by the year end, but
even then it will fall well short of Verizon's projected coverage
target."
(c) 2011 Benzinga.com. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published in its entirety or redistributed without
the approval of Benzinga.