Banks to take control of Yellow Pages

The Yellow Pages appear to be struggling to keep on top of its game as its creditors are looking to seize control of the publisher.

Hibu – formerly known as Yell - currently has heavy debts and is finding it difficult to get to grips with the matter. Its 13,000 employees publish online listings around the world in Britain, Spain, North and South America.

Unfortunately, its efforts to grow globally have been hampered by the growth of search engines, which people are increasingly turning to as an alternative. Furthermore, the company’s recent spending spree resulted in additional debts that it is now struggling to handle.

More than 400 banks and bond investors have started work on financial restructuring plans to wipe out a large chunk of the debts and see the business’s lenders take over.

Its debts total about £2.2 billion – roughly 100 times more than the firm’s stock market value.

The Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are thought to be the leading creditors and are in discussions to appoint Houlihan Lokey, a specialist American restructuring firm, to prepare a blueprint for a debt-to-equity swap.

At the moment, the company’s future remains up in the air. It is hoped that a solution will be found through the restructuring, but shareholders are likely to be wiped out and the firm could be forced to consider other options, such as an administration, if the changes do not go to plan.

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