Phone-directory company R.H. Donnelley Corp. Monday said it will acquire Dex Media Inc., publisher of the Yellow and White Pages for Qwest Communications, for $4.2 billion in cash and stock. The deal,
expected to close in the first quarter of 2006, will create the third-largest directory publisher in the United States, with more than 600 directories with a total circulation of 73 million in 28
states; only SBC Communications and Verizon Communications are larger. The new company will be named R.H. Donnelley, and will be headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. As part of the deal, Donnelley
assumes about $5.3 billion in Dex's debt. Company CEO David Swanson said the combined company will have a greater presence in the fast-growing online directory industry, and that further consolidation
in the shifting industry is likely.
-Ross Fadner
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