R.H. Donnelley Corp. bought Sprint's directory publishing business, Sprint Publishing & Advertising, for $2.23 billion in cash, R.H. Donnelley said Friday.
Donnelley said the acquisition makes it the largest public stand-alone publisher of yellow pages directories. It will now publish all 260 Sprint Yellow Pages directories in 18 states. The company had previously served as the exclusive sales agent for 41 Sprint directories in four states.
Donnelley will continue operating the business from Sprint Publishing's headquarters in Overland Park, KS.
The sale will yield after-tax cash proceeds of $2.1 billion.
Donnelley also announced that as part of the transaction, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners 2000 L.P. and affiliated entities purchased $200 million of Donnelley's convertible preferred stock and warrants, giving them 23 percent ownership in the company.
In addition, Goldman Sachs Managing Directors Terence O'Toole and Robert Gheewalla have joined Donnelley's Board of Directors.
