Monday, September 17, 2007

Idearc Buys Switchboard.com

Idearc Inc., operator of Superpages.com and publisher of the Verizon Yellow Pages, announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire Switchboard.com and other online directory assets from InfoSpace Inc. for $225 million. Idearc explained that the acquisition should result in an increase in quality organic traffic that it will monetize through its existing infrastructure, advertiser base and product demand. Idearc said it will finance the trasaction with cash and borrowings from its existing revolving credit facility. The Dallas-based company said that its Superpages.com network recorded 21.3 million unique visitors in August, while InfoSpace's directories and resources had 7.7 million unique visitors during that same time. InfoSpace is headquartered in Bellevue, Wash.