UNIONDALE, NY (September 9, 2002) - Yellow Book USA, the oldest and largest competitive yellow pages publisher in the United States, acquired two yellow pages directories from Chesapeake Publishing Corporation, located in Elkton, MD. The Cecil County and Eastern Shore directories, published by Chesapeake Publishing, were known as The Big Blue Phone Books and offered complete business yellow and white pages as well as residential white pages. These two books will be combined to comprise the new Mid-Shore Yellow Book, bringing savings to advertisers by offering a cost-effective alternative to current directories and convenience to consumers by providing comprehensive information about the entire area in one easy-to-use directory.
The acquisition of Chesapeake Directories gives Yellow Book enhanced coverage and an expanded customer base in the state of Maryland, and will expand Yellow Book's footprint into the Eastern Shore area. The Mid-Shore Yellow Book will cover Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Dorchester and Talbot Counties.
The new Mid-Shore Yellow Book will include comprehensive yellow pages, business and residential white pages, community information, restaurant menus, area maps and money-saving coupons, all in a distinct, easy-to-use size with easy-to-read large print. More than 80,000 directories will be delivered free to every home and business in the Mid-Shore area in February 2003.
Joe Walsh, President and chief executive officer of Yellow Book USA, said, "The acquisition of these two directories demonstrates our commitment to the local businesses and consumers. We will continue to provide localized coverage and content at affordable and fair advertising rates, allowing Yellow Book to further break down the phone company yellow pages monopoly in Maryland. While these directories have been built into viable local yellow pages over the past few years, Yellow Book's strength and more than 70 years experience will allow us to provide these markets with high-quality user-friendly directories."
Established in l930, Yellow Book USA has in recent years made a number of strategic acquisitions and entered scores of new markets, making it the largest independent yellow pages publisher in the nation. The recent acquisition of McLeodUSA's telephone directory publishing business extended Yellow Book's presence into 39 states, more than any other U.S. yellow pages publisher. Yellow Book currently publishes over 500 directories with a circulation of 60 million.
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