AT&T to sell majority stake in Yellow Pages to Cerberus Capital for $950 mn

US phone company AT&T Inc, yesterday said that it will sell a majority stake in its Yellow Pages business to the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital, for $950 million including debt.

Under the transaction, Dallas-based AT&T, which hired Citigroup and Bank of America as advisors to the deal, would sell a 53-per cent stake in its declining Yellow Pages business for $750 million in cash and Cerberus would take on $200 million debt.

The AT&T-Cerberus deal values Yellow Pages at about $1.42 bn

AT&T, the largest phone company in the US, will retain a 47 per cent stake in the Yellow Pages business, which generated sales of about $3.3 billion in 2011.

The sale includes yp.com and about 1,200 print Yellow Pages titles that are delivered to about 150 million homes and businesses in 22 states. The sale also includes the businesses' local ad network that has more than 300 mobile and online publisher websites and the YPmobile app, which allows users to search local businesses from their mobile devices.

"YP will continue to deliver the industry-leading service and products our customers and partners expect from us," said David Krantz, president and CEO of AT&T Interactive. "And everyone will work hard to make the transition seamless for the millions of consumers and thousands of advertisers, developers, publishers and resellers using our services."