R.H. Donnelley + Dex Media = Local Search Leader?
It's too early to tell exactly what R.H
It’s too early to tell exactly what R.H. Donnelley’s $9.5 billion (stock and debt assumption) acquisition of Dex Media will mean for local search, but it certainly seems to be good news for the sector. Dex has been a leader in getting its advertisers online (we wrote about efforts here, here and here), while R.H. Donnelley has lagged. Together, the combined company will be the third-largest print and directory publisher in the U.S. with pro forma annual revenues of more than $2.7 billion.
I dropped a line to the Kelsey Group’s Greg Sterling to ask him for his thoughts. He notes:
The Dex merger/acquisition will allow RHD to benefit from Dex’s strategy and forthcoming online platform (courtesy of Local Matters), which promises to be much improved.
Integration and execution become the challenges going forward. What culture will predominate and will it accelerate the development of a competitive online product or hamper that effort?
Good question. Stay tuned.
