Triton ups European Directories stake

The transaction includes a €15m equity commitment from Triton. The GP acquired 29% of the company earlier this year. The remaining stake will be held by the company's creditors.

European Directories' debt has been restructured and reduced from €893m to €262m. The company's leverage was reduced from 9.6x EBITDA to 2.8x EBITDA.

Macquarie, which bought Yellow Brick Road from 3i in 2005, and later established European Directories, last committed equity to the company in March 2008. Caisse des Depots et Placements du Quebec was also part of the equity syndicate. BNP Paribas, Lloyds, North Cove Partners and RBS provided debt for the deal. Lenders have had full control of the company since 2010.

Company
European Directories is a publishing business based in Amsterdam and London, focused on providing commercial search directories for consumers and for advertising lead generation. The company employs 4,000 people across its offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Gibraltar, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Poland. Its consumer base amounts to around 600,000 people.

The company was established in 2005 through the acquistions of Yellow Brick Road Group and TDC's search and directory divisions in Sweden and Finland. The consolidated group acquired Ditel in Poland and Gouden Gids in the Netherlands in 2008.

People
Peder Prahl, director of Triton Fund III, led the deal on behalf of the GP. Paul Walker is the outgoing chairman of the company. 

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• Topics
• Benelux
• Now researching
• Restructuring
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Netherlands
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• BNP Paribas
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