Will Telefonica Pull the Plug on TPI Sale?

Reports came out over the weekend that Yell Group is the sole remaining bidder for Telefonica Publicidad e Informacion, the publicly listed Spanish publisher that is 60 percent owned by Spanish telecom Telefonica. According to news reports, several private equity groups have dropped out of the race. With only one bidder remaining, the clear question is whether Telefonica will go ahead with the sale. The telecom had hoped to use the proceeds to invest in the wireless business.

The larger question is, to what degree this turn of events signals that private equity interest in the Yellow Pages unit might be cooling off?