Yellow Media sells off Auto Trader and other classified publications and websites

Auto Trader magazine and New Home Guide are among the properties sold by the Montreal-based publisher of the Yellow Pages to global private equity firm Apax Partners for $745 million. 

According to a Canadian Press story, the transaction involved Yellow Media Inc.'s Trader Corp. division. The company has about 169 print publications and 22 websites in automotive, general merchandise and employment. It is said there are about 1 million readers and 3.5 million unique visitors.  They are businesses that the once-mighty Yellow Media is trying to get out of as it reinvents itself into a digital company. 

"This divestiture is attractive for our shareholders and will allow us to deploy capital in our core business, helping accelerate our digital transformation while further strengthening our capital structure," said president and CEO Marc Tellier.

"As Canada's number one Internet company, we want to focus our efforts on the acceleration of our digital transformation via our Yellow Pages 360 Solution."

Yellow Media last year bought online directory publisher Canpages and Clear Sky Media Inc., which owns RedFlagDeals.com, PriceCanada.com and Scarlett Lounge.