Two of the US’s largest yellow pages publishers plan to merge, hoping that economies of scale can offset the double-digit declines in print revenues that have dogged directory owners.

Dex One and SuperMedia, the companies that emerged from Sprint and Verizon’s former directories businesses, both went through bankruptcy proceedings in 2009. Their all-stock merger will form a group with 2011 revenues of $3.1 billion, 5,800 employees and adjusted earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation of $1.2 billion.

Their combined market capitalisation will be just over $150 million. Dex Media will inherit more than $3 billion of debt. A PwC report showed directory advertising had shrunk by 22.4 per cent from 2007-2011. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012