Local Media Watch

European Directories has taken another step in expanding its directory publishing footprint on the continent.

Earlier this week, ED acquired the Polish directory publisher Ditel from Telekomunikacja Polska. The deal is worth 20 million euros, or about US$29 million.

ED is already present in the Polish directory market through its 50-50 joint venture with Interinfo Holdings to operate PKT, or Polska Ksiazki Telefoniczne (there is a good reason for using acronyms when discussing the Polish directory business). The Kelsey Group estimates Ditel and PKT have a combined 48 percent share of the market, which Eniro Polska leads with a 51 percent share. TKG values the Polish market at US$132 million in 2006, based on today’s zloty-dollar exchange rate.

This agreement comes close on the heels of ED’s announced acquisition of Gouden Gids from Truvo, a deal that awaits regulatory approval in the Netherlands. If approved, that combination with consolidate the Dutch directory business into a single dominant player.

ED is a London-based holding company with directory operations in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Gibraltar, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. The company is led by CEO Cornel Riklin and is owned by an investor group led by Macquarie Capital Alliance Group.

This deal, following the Netherlands consolidation, suggests ED wants to consolidate its positions in Europe where it can. Assuming the Gouden Gids deal is completed, the most competitive marketing remaining in ED’s portfolio is Finland, where its Fonecta operation competes hand to hand with Eniro’s Finnish unit.

TKG believes we may see more M&A activity in Europe. One big question invariably raised by the Gouden Gids deal is whether this clears a path for a mega-merger between ED and Truvo. With the consolidation of the Netherlands, those two companies would have entirely complementary portfolios.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. I welcome.
    I must correct your information in the cause of Ditel selling.
    The transaction about which you are writing will be finished, after fulfilling official conditions.

    So what became 14.12.2007?

    – Telekomunikacja Polska SA (TP SA) exclusively a Ditel SA signed the preliminary contract of sale of the 100% of the dependent share for EUROPEAN DIRECTORIES SA (EDSA). The EUROPEAN DIRECTORIES SA will pay the amount of the about 20 million euro, if Office of the Control of the Competition and – Consumers Department of the Consolidation of Markets (Internet address: http://www.ukoik.gov.pl) will give the positive opinion in the cause to this consolidation.
    Quite this way he is not having .. to happen. Why?

  2. Mariusz…Sorry for the delay in acknowledging your comment. Thank you for the additional information.

  3. EUROPEAN DIRCTORIES is already a pkt.pl owner Polish phone books, and so can not reach the transaction. On the market of directories of companies and the institution they stayed in order to only two pkt.pl companies (EUROPEAN DIRECTORIES) and Eniro Poland (Eniro Group AB). None of these organizations is representing Philosophy of the Yellow Pages Enterprise. In Poland two markets exist, first it is a market katlogów of teleaddress companies and the institution (color B2B pages) and market of phone books (White Pages). As Lighthouse yellow pages we carried the reservation into Association Poland to Office of Competition and Consumer Protection and of treasury to this consolidation. Most important in Poland at present it is a competition on the market of directories, new products, the quality of the service, attractive prices and the reliability of Publishers. Ditel before selling must guarantee that the new Owner will provide with the publication of a phone book “Nationwide list of subscribers” to what zbowiązało of it Polish law. Possible sale, a February can be announced on 2 months from the day of tabling a motion that is round about the month / March 2008. I am greeting.

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