The Hearst Corporation Agrees to Purchase White Directory Publishers, Inc

Business Wire, Sept 2, 2004

NEW YORK -- The Hearst Corporation today agreed to purchase White Directory Publishers, Inc., the fourth-largest independent yellow pages publisher in the United States. The announcement was made by Victor F. Ganzi, president and Chief Executive Officer of The Hearst Corporation, and George B. Irish, president of Hearst Newspapers. The transaction is expected to close on or about September 30, 2004.

White Directory Publishers, based in Buffalo, New York, publishes 56 directories in 11 states, with a combined distribution of more than 8 million copies. A family owned and operated company, White Directory Publishers was founded in 1968 by Wilbur D. Lewis and has since built a solid foundation of successful directories through launches and strategic acquisitions.

According to industry research, the domestic yellow pages industry generated revenues of approximately $15 billion in 2003, with independent publishers garnering 13.5% of the market, up from 7% in 1998. The Hearst Corporation already owns Associated Publishing Company, an independent yellow pages publisher in Texas, which it acquired in 1994.

In announcing the purchase, Ganzi said, "Over the past 36 years, the Lewis family and their colleagues at White Directory Publishers have built one of the premier companies in the independent yellow pages publishing industry. We welcome the company's 730 colleagues to Hearst, and we look forward to their building on this already impressive record of growth and quality service to their customers."

Richard D. Lewis, president and CEO of White Directory Publishers said, "We are very excited about affiliating with Hearst. By combining Hearst's resources and our experience, we will be able to grow much faster."

Lewis, as well as Mark A. Davis, executive vice president and COO of the company, and Philip M. Corwin, vice president and CFO, will continue to manage White Directory Publishers and will add responsibility for Associated Publishing Company. The combined operations will be part of Hearst's newspaper group.

"Our Associated Publishing Company, under the leadership of Bob Allen, has been highly successful," Irish said. "Joining forces with White Directory Publishers allows us to increase substantially our presence in one of the fastest growing segments of the media business."

The sellers were represented by Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) is one of the nation's largest diversified communications companies. Its major interests include magazine, newspaper and business publishing, cable networks, television and radio broadcasting, Internet businesses, television production, newspaper features distribution and real estate.