BLS Bellsouth Cp

SBC and BellSouth Close Acquisition of www.yellowpages.com, Inc. YellowPages.com(SM) brand is recognized as a standard of the industry SAN ANTONIO and ATLANTA, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A newly formed Internet yellow pages joint venture between the directory affiliates of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS) has closed the transaction announced yesterday to acquire online directory publisher http://www.yellowpages.com/, Inc. The new venture will utilize the highly recognized YellowPages.com brand and expects to become the market leader in Internet yellow pages and local Internet search. The creation of this venture and acquisition of YellowPages.com now positions the two directory publishing companies of SBC and BellSouth to better serve their local Internet search customers and lays the foundation for what they expect to be a leading provider of nationwide, online yellow pages and Internet local search. Through this combination, the YellowPages.com site expects to receive more than 50 million consumer searches per month. YellowPages.com has the most recognized web address in the industry. The joint venture will use the companies' deep local content and strong consumer usage to create a technology-focused venture that will bring greater value to advertisers and users by delivering more robust, comprehensive content. The new venture will be headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., with operations in Henderson, Nev., and it will draw on the technology, management, sales forces and customer care capabilities of all three companies. Charles Stubbs, an executive with BellSouth's online yellow pages operation, has been named president and chief executive officer. Bill Clenney, an executive with SBC's online yellow pages business, has been named chief financial officer. Debbie Slavin, also an SBC online yellow pages executive, was named senior vice president - Operations. SBC Directory Operations and BellSouth Advertising and Publishing will continue to manage their local online yellow page relationships in their respective regions, outside the new venture, while the new venture will develop a sales force for national advertising accounts. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results is contained in SBC's and BellSouth's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SBC and BellSouth disclaim any obligation to update or revise statements contained in this news release based on new information or otherwise. SBC Communications Inc. is a Fortune 50 company whose subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a full range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory publishing and advertising, and related services to businesses, consumers and other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 46 million wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed DSL Internet access lines to more American consumers than any other provider and are among the nation's leading providers of Internet services. SBC companies also now offer satellite TV service. Additional information about SBC and SBC products and services is available at http://www.sbc.com/ . BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, GA, and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider. Backed by award-winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(R), residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(R) and The Real Yellow Pages(R). More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com/ . DATASOURCE: BellSouth Corporation CONTACT: Walt Sharp of SBC Communications Inc., +1-210-351-3349, or ; or Joe Chandler of BellSouth Corporation, +1-404-829-8700, or Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/ http://www.sbc.com/ http://www.yellowpages.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/095650.html

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