Dex One shareholders give thumbs up to merger
Yellow Pages companies merging.
- Chris Bagley
- Staff Writer-Triangle Business Journal
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CARY – Dex One Corp.’s shareholders overwhelmingly approved the company’s merger with SuperMedia Inc. on Wednesday, the company revealed in a federal securities filing on Thursday.
Shares of the company (Nasdaq: DEXO) are up 73 percent since it announced the merger plans in mid-August, and had gone even higher before falling back by 6 percent Thursday to close at $2.17. SuperMedia (Nasdaq: SPMD) shares have also nearly doubled, and closed at $4.49 Thursday.
Both companies focus on Yellow Pages advertising and related online advertising.
Dex One told securities regulators on Thursday that 99.9 percent of the voting shareholders approved, with 81 percent of all eligible shareholders voting.
Shareholders of Dallas, Texas-based SuperMedia also approved the merger on Wednesday, company spokesman Andy Shane said. That company had not yet filed the vote’s results with regulators as of Thursday afternoon. Shane said the companies are continuing to negotiate with lenders, a crucial step since they owe a combined $3.25 billion in long-term debt, according to their most recent quarterly financial statements. They have asked creditors to push back maturity dates by two years for certain debt.
Triangle Business Journal reported in September that the combined company’s headquarters will be in Dallas, though the two companies have said that a large number of Dex’s 300 Triangle-area employees would remain here. Dex One is headquartered in Cary.
Dex One itself is the product of at least two sizeable mergers, including the $4 billion merger of Cary’s R.H. Donnelly with Denver, Colo.-based Dex Media in January 2006. Dex One has since gone through Chapter 11 reorganization. Recent trades value the company at about $110 million.
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2013/03/14/dex-one-shareholders-give-thumbs-up-to.html