Dex sold $975 million in junk bonds to leverage the acquisition, $450 million in senior notes at 9.875 percent interest, due in 2009, and $525 million subordinated notes at 12.125 percent interest due 2012. Dex Media acquired 155 directories in these seven In November 2002 Dex Media acquired Dex Media East, the directory business for the states of Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico (including El Paso, Texas), North Dakota, and South Dakota. Advertising income from the Yellow Pages offset lower utility rates for telephone customers, and the sale of the directories raised issues of potential rate increases. Qwest formed Dex Media East LLC and Dex Media West LLC to divide the directory operations according to states that demanded approval of the sale.
The leveraged buyout occurred in two transactions. Each company planned to invest $750 million of equity toward the acquisition and to fund the balance through bank debt and the sale of high-yield (junk) bonds. The Carlyle Group, a global private equity company with more than $13.5 billion under management, and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private equity firm with more than $12 billion under management, owned Dex Media, established for the purpose of acquiring Qwest Dex. In August 2002, Qwest accepted the $7.05 billion bid from Dex Media, though the purchase price was considered low, at only 7.8 times EBITDA, compared with similar transactions in the directories industry. Qwest received several bids from equity investment groups, but questions about Qwest's accounting practices dissuaded several of the interested parties. Qwest Dex generated approximately $1.6 billion in revenue in 2001 and Qwest expected to gain up to $10 billion from the sale. Qwest Communications decided to sell its directory businesses to offset rising debt and losses. When US West and Qwest Communications International merged in 2000, the directory business was renamed once again, to Qwest Dex. In 1996, US West launched a new brand, US West Dex, using a man with a magnifying glass as the identifying Dex character. When Mountain Bell took the name US West, Mountain Bell Yellow Pages became US West Direct. Justice Department divided AT&T into seven Regional Bell Operating Companies in 1984. A century later, as part of AT&T, the company became Mountain Bell Yellow Pages when the U.S. originated as a regional publisher of the Yellow Pages, with operations beginning in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1881. Forming the Company in 2002 to Acquire Former AT&T Directory Publisherĭex Media, Inc. In addition to providing search capacity for the content of business advertisements, accesses more than 15 million basic business listings and 200 million residential listings nationwide. Dex publishes CD-ROM directories and its Internet Yellow Pages directory is available at. Dex publishes bilingual, English-Spanish directories for more than 20 markets. Available in major metropolitan cities, On-the-Go directories feature maps, shopping and entertainment guides, as well as telephone and address information for central city businesses.
In addition to the standard directories, Dex publishes an On-the-Go directory, a nine-inch by six-inch directory designed to be kept in automobiles.
Independent directories, in markets not served by Qwest, are published and distributed in El Paso, Texas, and Lincoln, Nebraska. Although the directories are distributed for free, income is derived from more than 400,000 local businesses and 4,000 national advertising accounts. Dex distributes the directories in 14 states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. is the official publisher of telephone directory white pages and yellow pages for Qwest Communications. NAIC: 511140 Directory and Mailing List Publishersĭex Media, Inc. Sales: $1.63 billion (2003, includes West Predecessor revenue)
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