R.H. Donnelley has agreed to acquire Business.com, Inc. for $345 million in cash and deferred purchase consideration. This deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2007. It’s also subject to customary terms and closing conditions, including compliance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
As part of the deal, Business.com’s CEO, Jake Winebaum, will be appointed the President of R.H. Donnelley’s Interactive Operations.
R.H. Donnelley Corporation is one of the United States’ leading Yellow Pages and internet local commercial search companies. Business.com is a leading business search engine and directory and pay-per-click advertising network.
Business.com currently employs about 100 technologists, strategists, and business people and serves more than 6,000 business-to-business advertisers and their agencies. Business.com is profitable and is expected to generate revenues of more than $50 million in 2007. Business.com is recognized as a leader in the internet B2B commercial search engine space and has been named to the “Inc. 500” and BtoB magazine’s “Media Power 50”.
Business.com is currently led by Founder and CEO Jake Winebaum. Prior to starting Business.com, Winebaum led the the web division of The Walt Disney Company, serving as the Chairman of Buena Vista Internet Group.
R.H. Donnelley connects businesses and consumers through its broad portfolio of print and interactive marketing solutions. Small- and medium-sized businesses look to R.H. Donnelley’s experienced team of marketing consultants to help them grow their companies and drive sales leads. Consumers depend on the company’s reliable, trusted, local business content to deliver the most relevant search results when they are seeking local goods and services. R.H. Donnelley’s Triple Play integrated marketing solution provides the most comprehensive print Yellow Pages, Internet Yellow Pages and search engine marketing/search engine optimization (SEM/SEO) tools for local businesses to attract ready-to-buy customers.
Business.com (www.business.com) is the leading business search engine and directory and pay-per-click advertising network, serving more than 30 million business users and thousands of advertisers every month. Business.com helps business decision makers quickly find what they need to manage and grow their businesses, and enables advertisers to reach these users wherever they are across the business Internet through premier partners, including The Wall Street Journal Online, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Hoovers, Financial Times and Internet.com. The company recently launched Work.com (www.work.com), a b-to-b community publishing platform featuring more than 1,800 business how-to guides contributed by business experts. Business.com was named to the 2006 Inc. 500 and BtoB magazine’s Media Power 50. Business.com was founded in 1999 by eCompanies and is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. Its investors partners include Benchmark Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, Evercore Partners, Reed Business Information and McGraw-Hill. The Business.com website is, well, at www.Business.com.