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| Industry | Print and Interactive Marketing |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Qwest |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Parent | The Carlyle Group, etc. (2002-2004) R. H. Donnelley/Dex One (2006-2013) |
Dex Media, Inc. was a print and interactive marketing company. It was formed in 2002 by a consortium led byThe Carlyle Group to acquire the operations ofQwest Dex fromQwest Communications International. The company went public in 2004 and was acquired byR.H. Donnelley in 2006, which becameDEX One in 2010.
In 1988, US West began marketing its telephone services under the one "US West" name. US West, in 1995, divided its companies into two core divisions:US West Communications, andUS West Media Group. US West placed its directory operations in the hands of the Media Group, creatingUS West Dex. US West Dex, Inc. became the new name of US West's publishing company.
In 2000,Qwest Communications International acquiredUS West. As a result, US West was renamedQwest, and US West Dex, Inc. was renamedQwest Dex, Inc. In 2002, Qwest underwent a drastic reorganization, and Qwest searched for a buyer for QwestDex, Inc.
On August 20, 2002,The Carlyle Group,Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, along with other private investors, led a $7.5 billion buyout of QwestDex. The buyout was the third largest corporate buyout since 1989.
QwestDex's purchase occurred in two stages. In November 2002, directory operations inColorado,Iowa,Minnesota,Nebraska,New Mexico,North Dakota, andSouth Dakota were acquired for $2.75 billion. These operations were known asDex Media East LLC. In 2003, directory operations inArizona,Idaho,Montana,Oregon,Utah,Washington andWyoming were acquired for $4.30 billion. These operations became known asDex Media West LLC.
After completion of the formation of Dex Media, Dex signed a 50-year agreement withQwest to be the official directory provider to Qwest local telephone customers. The sale of QwestDex marked the first time aBaby Bell sold its telephone directory operations.
In July 2004, Dex Media went public and began trading on theNYSE under the ticker "DEX". On October 3, 2005,R. H. Donnelley Corporation announced its intent to acquire Dex Media. RHD's acquisition of Dex was completed on January 31, 2006. Following RHD's 2009 bankruptcy, it renamed itselfDex One Corporation retaining its headquarters inCary, North Carolina.
In August 2012, Dex One andSuperMedia LLC announced their two companies would be merging to formDex Media, Inc. In March 2013, Dex One filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to finalize the merger.[1] The merger was completed on April 30, 2013 and the company began trading publicly on theNASDAQ stock exchange on May 1, 2013 under the symbol DXM.[2] In August 2013, Geoff Fitzgibbons, visionary of the orange bundles, resigned leaving a post he held under three previous mergers.
 United States telephone directory publishers | |
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| Current |
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| Online | |
| Former | |