Yellow Pages Group Strengthens Foothold In Canada Through Acquisitions

Canadian performance marketing solutions company Yellow Pages Group (YPG) this morning announced that it has come to an agreement with rival 411 Local Search Corp, under which terms YPG will purchase the 411.ca brand and domain names and acquire an ownership interest in the company to boot.

Simultaneously, the company announced that it has acquired Clear Sky Media, owner of a number of digital coupons and price comparison websites, for an undisclosed sum.

The former agreement will enable YPG to build traffic for its own properties, Canada411.ca and YellowPages.ca, essentially leveraging the brand and growing reach of online directory 411.ca. Under the agreement, 411 Local Search will retain an exclusive license to use the 411.ca trademark until YPG purchases the balance of outstanding shares in the company within approx. three to five years.

In a joint press release, 411.ca is said to have grown to attract close to 10% of online users, generating 13 million queries for local Canadian businesses each month. The addition of the 411.ca site will add approximately one million unduplicated unique visitors to YPG’s network reach, the companies added.

The second acquisition that was announced by YPG this morning is that of Clear Sky Media, a holding company that operates RedFlagDeals and Scarlett Lounge, both community sites centered around discounts and coupons on the web and mobile, as well as price comparison engine PriceCanada.com. RedFlagDeals alone attracts 2.2 million unique visitors per month, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Detailed terms and deal size were not disclosed for either agreement.