APN sells directories to Yellow

Struggling APN has finally found a buyer for one of its NZ assets.Yellow Pages operator Yellow, a budding Google ally, has acquired APN's "Finda" division, which includes the Finda.co.nz directory to 200,000 businesses, Wises maps, menus.co.nz, UBD and APNData as the NZ Herald publisher surrenders online ground in exchange for much-needed cash.

The APN directory division appeared to be on a roll, striking a deal last year to feed locations of the 200,000 businesses in its Finda database into Google's wildly popular Maps service.

A spokesman for APN told NBR the sale is not related to the slow-down, or the credit crunch-induced problems of Irish media baron Tony O'Reilly, whose debt-laden Independent News & Media holds a 39% stake in the Australasian media company.

APN also released a statement saying, "Whilst we remain committed to growing our online business, we will continue to take advantage of opportunities to realise value for non-core assets as they arise."

The formerly Telecom-owned Yellow expects its website to generate $20 million in revenue for the year to June, according to media director Blair Glubb, or 7% of the company's total revenue. It will be looking for Finda to add to its online revenue, likely via a hook-up with Google, which has already been in discussions with Yellow.

Neither APN nor yellowpages.co.nz operator Yellow has put a price on the transaction. APN will retain the Finda name in Australia.

APN acquired a 50% stake in Finda in 2006, acquiring the balance only last year. During 2007, in its last public financials before behing fully consumed by APN, Finda lost $2.3 million on $3.9 million revenue.

A spokeswoman for Yellow told NBR that Finda would be run as a standalone business, with founder and CEO Shane Bradley remaining at the helm.

“It’s time for us to play with the big boys In the growing online ad market,” says the Yellow spokeswoman.

Yellow is rumoured to be on the brink of announcing a mapping alliance with Google, with the search giant to supply maps for Yellow.co.nz. Assuming that deal goes ahead, Yellow's new purchase will fit right in, given Google's existing partnernship with Finda.