If your a fan of the Yellow Pages you better enjoy them while you can because they won't be around forever. RH Donnely filed for bankruptcy this year because of 12.4 billion dollar debt and a shrinking clientel base.
Do you really want to keep giving your money to a company that's sinking faster than the Titanic? How many more years do you think those stupid little books will continue to land on your front porch? Five, maybe ten? Their losing advertisers faster than Obama can say "Yes we can".
Nite nite yellow pages....... shiteatinggrin
HEre's the story from Bloomburg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... qWYvt5TOxE
By Dawn McCarty
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- R.H. Donnelley Corp., the publisher of 600 directories including telephone Yellow Pages, sought bankruptcy protection from creditors to reduce debt by about $6.4 billion amid mounting losses.
The company, based in Cary, North Carolina, had assets of $11.9 billion and debt of $12.4 billion as of Dec. 31, according to Chapter 11 documents filed last night in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Nineteen affiliates also sought court protection.
R.H. Donnelly blamed the filing partly on “a significant decline in advertising sales due to the recent economic downturn and increased competition in the local business advertising industry,” according to court papers.
The net loss was $401 million in the first quarter as revenue fell 11 percent to $602 million, the company said earlier this month. Its net loss for all of 2008 was $2.3 billion. Sales have dropped as small businesses move print ads online or cut back on spending amid the economic slowdown.
R.H. Donnelley said May 14 that lenders and bondholders had agreed to forbear until May 28 and wouldn’t take any action on the company’s missed debt payment. In March, the publisher hired Lazard Ltd. for advice on restructuring or refinancing debt.
The company intends to file within 60 days a disclosure statement and reorganization plan that will reduce debt by $6.4 billion, including about $700 million of secured debt. Under the plan, about $6 billion of unsecured bond debt would be exchanged for all of the equity in the reorganized company and $300 million in unsecured notes.
‘Pre-arranged Plan’
“This is not a pre-pack but a very strong pre-arranged plan,” Chief Financial Officer Steve Blondy said in an interview. “Trade creditors’ recovery will be very high if not full recovery.”
R.H. Donnelley expects to emerge from bankruptcy shortly after the start of 2010 with more than $100 million in cash on hand, Blondy said.
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded R.H. Donnelley’s probability of default rating on May 18 to Ca/LD from Ca, signaling a limited default after the lapse of the 30-day grace period. The company has a Caa2 corporate family rating, eight steps below investment grade.
Moody’s said in February that a “complete debt restructuring represents the best alternative of addressing its currently challenged capital structure.” Standard & Poor’s said the same month that R.H. Donnelley would face “challenges” in refinancing $1.2 billion of debt that matures next year.
‘Good Model’
“We have a very good business model; operations continue to be good,” Chief Executive Officer David Swanson said in an interview. “We never anticipated the economic downturn and the condition we find the financial market in today.”
The 30 largest creditors without collateral backing their claims are owed about $6 billion, according to court documents. The biggest unsecured creditors are Bank of New York, as agent for holders of senior notes, with a claim of $3.6 billion; U.S. Bank NA, also as agent for holders of senior notes, with a claim of $2.4 billion; and Google Inc., with a claim of $2.4 million.
R.H. Donnelley, through its units, publishes more than 600 print directories with a combined circulation of about 80 million, and provides advertising services to about 600,000 businesses in 28 states and the District of Columbia, according to court papers.
The case is In re R.H. Donnelley Corp., 09-11833, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
