Unitas, Ontario Teachers suspend NZ Yellow Pages sale

In announcing the news, Unitas and Ontario Teachers Private Capital said in a statement that "the current economic climate was not well suited to large-scale merger and acquisition activity ... as a result, the expectations of the stakeholders in regard to value are unlikely to be met in the current market." The backers, which paid NZ$2.1 billion ($1.57 billion) in 2007 - or 13x its earnings - from New Zealand's Telecom Corp., will instead focus on Yellow Page's long-term debt restructuring plan. The decision comes despite ongoing interest from private equity and industry-related parties, all of which are said to be based overseas.

According to local reports, Yellow Pages is saddled with $NZ1.7 billion ($1.26 billion) worth of senior debt, which is expected to be substantially pared down. That move would leave its 28 banking lenders, including Deutsche Bank, RBS and Macquarie Group, short of their investments.

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• Topics
• Exits
• Australasia
• Unitas Capital