Yellow Pages publisher files for bankruptcy

Truvo Belgium, publisher of the Gouden Gids/Pages d'Or, or Yellow Pages, has filed for bankruptcy. FCR Media, an Estonian group, has emerged as a possible buyer and has submitted a plan for a rapid restart. The plan includes retaining about half of the current workforce of 520 employees.

FCR’s offer, which is being examined by Truvo’s administrator, asks for a minimum of 220 employees to declare their willingness to move to FCR. Staff at the headquarters in Antwerp and at the company’s other sites in Brussels, Ghent and Liège have received paperwork to declare their intention to remain employed by the new company. The form stipulates that only the sites in Antwerp – in the Berchem district – and Anderlecht will continue to operate.

FCR, based in Tallinn, operates across Europe, including in Ireland and Sweden. It offers both on and offline marketing options to businesses. “If the offer is accepted, FCR wants to begin next week, so that agreements with customers can be respected,” said a representative for trade union LBC-NVK. The plan requires the approval of suppliers and other partners.

For some time now, interest in Truvo’s main product – the annual business telephone directory – has been in free-fall as people turned instead to the internet for information and contact details. That has led to declining sales for advertising, the main source of revenue.

Photo courtesy Het Belang van Limburg