The Hearst Corporation has agreed to purchase White Directory Publishers Inc., the fourth-largest independent Yellow Pages publisher in the United States. White Directory Publishers, based in Buffalo
New York, publishes 56 directories in 11 states, with a combined distribution of more than 8 million copies. According to industry research, the domestic Yellow Pages industry generated revenues of
approximately $15 billion in 2003, with independent publishers garnering 13.5 percent of the market, up from 7 percent in 1998. The Hearst Corporation already owns Associated Publishing Co., an
independent Yellow Pages publisher in Texas, which it acquired in 1994.
