Canpages Adds On

Canpages Inc., a Canadian directories publisher owned by HM Capital, has agreed to acquire the EZ Finder Phonebooks in five Alberta markets from DirectWest Canada. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

Canpages Inc., Canada‘s fastest growing local search firm, announced today that an agreement has been reached to acquire the EZ Finder(TM) Phonebooks in five Alberta markets from DirectWest Canada, a SaskTel company.

The acquisition will see Canpages advertiser base grow by more than 3,000 new customers and expand its reach in Alberta to over 98 per cent of the market. Canpages will also welcome the EZ Finder(TM) Phonebook’s 35 Alberta-based employees to its rapidly growing team of 600 across Canada as it consolidates DirectWest’s Alberta properties: E-Z Finder Phonebook and PBC Business Finder under the Canpages brand.

“The agreement to purchase the EZ Finder Phonebooks speaks to Canpages’ continued success as the fastest growing local search firm in Canada,” said Olivier Vincent, President and CEO of Canpages. “More importantly, the consolidation of these properties under the Canpages brand will deliver greater value to all of the advertisers who invest with us, as users will be solely focussed on a single Canpages directory for their region.”

The agreement to acquire the Alberta EZ Finder Phonebooks and advertiser base represents another milestone for Canpages, which in three years, has tripled its number of employees from 200 to more than 600, and in less than one year has grown its online presence at Canpages.ca from 300,000 unique visitors per month to 3.3 million. Canpages has also expanded its reach from 2 million to 8 million homes and businesses across the country.

“SaskTel is very pleased with this agreement as it will allow us to shift our focus back to our core Saskatchewan market which has experienced and will continue to experience significant growth,” said Robert Watson, SaskTel President and CEO. “SaskTel and its subsidiaries in Saskatchewan, including DirectWest, are committed to serving our customers in Saskatchewan and delivering the latest in innovative communication services in the province.”

About Canpages Inc. and Canpages.ca

Canpages is the largest independent local search and directories publisher in Canada. Its website, Canpages.ca features a national residential and business database and more than 3.3 million unique visitors come to visit it every month with their local search requests. With 80 publications and over 80,000 customers, Canpages reaches more than 8 million households and businesses across Canada. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canpages employs 600 people and has offices in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. For more information visit: www.Canpages.ca.