ypOne Launches 6 New Canadian Directories; Now Largest Independent Directory Publisher in Ontario; ypOne Continues Its Rapid Expansion in North America

HOUSTON, TX -- April 19, 2005 -- ypOne Canada, a subsidiary of U.S.-based ypOne Publishing, today becomes the largest independent directory publisher in Ontario with the launch of five new Phone Guide yellow pages shopping directories in Ottawa, Brampton, Chatham, Elgin, and Sarnia.


At the same time, the company is launching a new directory in Halifax, Nova Scotia, marking its first venture in that province. The expansion in Halifax is being undertaken in partnership with EastLink (www.eastlink.com), the eastern Canadian communications and entertainment provider.

The new books, nearly 1 million in total, will be delivered to every home and business in these new markets beginning this fall. Distribution of the new directories nearly doubles the size of the company’s distribution in Canada. The company’s chief investors are Halyard Capital Fund of New York and Frontenac Company of Chicago.

“Today we are connecting buyers and sellers in these six markets in a unique and powerful way,” said ypOne President Erik Jensen. “This announcement marks a milestone in our continuing expansion in Canada and in our commitment to publish the most comprehensive directories in the markets we serve.”

The Phone Guide has already begun its sales campaign, calling on businesses in Ottawa, Halifax, Chatham, Elgin, and Sarnia. The Brampton sales campaign begins in late May. Gary Campbell, Director of Canadian operations, is heading up the expansion effort.

“Our new directories present tremendous growth opportunities for us in Ontario,” said Campbell. “These are strategic growth decisions and the first of many planned expansion stages. We are clearly moving closer to out goal of being the book of choice for all households and businesses in Ontario.”

Jensen said ypOne continues to plan for growth in new markets. “ypOne is a strong, growing, competitive directory publisher,” said Jensen. “We are continuing to expand our business in North America.”

The new Phone Guides will provide consumers with the same content-rich features that users enjoy in other ypOne markets, including full color city and area maps and community pages that contain points of interest, community events, easy-to-find school pages, and stadium seating charts.

Other unique features of the new Phone Guides include easy-to-search government pages, coupons, postal codes, larger print, golf and restaurant guides, and electronic yellow pages, which can be found at www.yponepublishing.com.

Advertisers will benefit from the Phone Guide’s wider scope to match consumers’ shopping and travel patterns and a Call Measurement System that proves the value of their ads by enabling them to track and analyze calls generated by their ads.

In Halifax, ypOne has entered a unique co-branding partnership with local communications and entertainment provider EastLink to provide directories to all households and businesses in this market. “This partnership enables us to combine the strength of our product with the recognition of the EastLink brand and community presence,” said Campbell. “Halifax is an especially exciting region for us and is just the beginning of our expansion beyond Ontario. Ultimately, we plan to publish directories from coast to coast.”

ypOne Canada, Ltd has been publishing directories in Southern Ontario under its PhoneGuide brand for more than eight years. “The success that PhoneGuide has created is a direct result of delivering yellow pages that consumers use and advertisers derive value,” Campbell said.

“PhoneGuide advertisers enjoy strong results from our directories,” said Campbell. “Our Call Measurement System provides advertisers with concrete proof that our books are delivering customer calls to their businesses. The call counts continue to increase, year over year, confirming that we are giving both consumers and advertisers high value. Advertisers consistently find advertising in ypOne directories to be a cost effective alternative generating increased value and return on investment for their advertising dollars.”

About the PhoneGuide/ Access Pages

The PhoneGuide (www.phoneguide.ca) has been published in Southwestern Ontario since 1997. It is distributed by ypOne Canada Ltd., a London-based company formerly known as Southwestern Publishing. The first London area PhoneGuide took on traditional phone directories in late 1997 by offering unique features such as large print, postal codes beside listings, community information, maps, and talking pages. The PhoneGuide acquired Access Pages in 2004.

About ypOne Canada Ltd

Doing business as Phone Guide/Access Pages, ypOne Canada Ltd. currently publishes 16 directory titles, and following this announcement, that number will rise to 22. ypOne Canada Ltd. currently distributes 994,000 directories with distribution expected to increase to 1,800,000. There are currently 109 Canadian employees.

About ypOne Publishing, LP

ypOne Publishing, LP (www.yponepublishing.com) is a rapidly growing mid-size North American publisher currently publishing 53 titles and distributing 3.8 million directories in the United States and Canada. In addition to management, ypOne Publishing, LP enjoys equity sponsorship from Frontenac Company (www.frontenac.com) and Halyard Capital Fund, (www.halyardcapital.com), a member of BMO Financial Group. ypOne Publishing, LP continues to actively seek expansion opportunities in both the U.S. and Canada.

Contact Information

John R. White

Director Marketing

ypOne Publishing/Phone Guide

Contact via E-mail