Yell is an international directories business which operates in the classified advertising market in the UK, USA, Spain and Latin America.

Picture Credits: Yell

Since the speculation has gotten hotter, Yell’s stocks have experienced an appreciation. The hike was to the tune of 4.4% which is the largest appreciation since early December last year. What could it possibly be that makes Yell a good candidate to be purchased by Google?

"Yell has lost almost half its value in the last 11 months and certainly looks more attractive now as a takeover candidate," is what a UK based trader says.

There have been no official pronouncements from Yell, but rumors suggest a 500 pence-per-share bid.

Via: Bloomberg

Comments

Our earlier Yellow Pages story relayed The Kelsey Group’s opinion that now is a pretty good time for the industry to get the hang of the Internet.  As such, the rumor is a decent fit.  Discussions of a possible Google-Yell deal have gone beyond that superficial level, however, and have resulted in some very different opinions.

Jemima Kiss wrote, "Yell.com has a strong presence in online listings but much more potential . . . .  Google is aggressively moving into local advertising and listings are a prime target. . . .  Think of Yell integrated with Google Maps – making the incorporated Google Local listings even richer.  Then there’s the voice-powered local listings search service and – most critically – Google Mobile."

But regardless of how well the companies would do together, everything goes out the window if they’re not considering the option.  John Battelle knocked on the anonymous source of the rumor, writing, "And I woke up and thought that Google might buy Circuit City out of Chapter 11, so I printed it."

As with most rumors, this debate lands us in the middle of nowhere, facts-wise.  Wait and see.