Topic: How To Invest

Hello Pat: I am one of the unfortunates who built up a large holding in Yellow Pages and did not realize what was happening with it until it was too late. If I had subscribed to you earlier than I did, I might have escaped my fate! I have just seen a new release that says they are “recapitalizing,” I saw the figure of 17.5% regarding common shares. Does this mean they are shrinking the amount of outstanding shares and I will get 17.5% of the shares that I now hold?

Article Excerpt

Yellow Media Inc., $0.075, symbol YLO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 515.2 million; Market cap: $38.6 million; www.ypg.com), has reached an agreement with 30% of its bondholders to recapitalize and postpone $700 million of debt payments that are due over the next year. The company needs the approval of two-thirds of its creditors for the recapitalization to go through. Yellow Media is the largest telephone directory publisher in Canada, and owns the Yellow Pages and Pages Jaunes trademarks. It also operates websites devoted to classified advertising. Yellow Media’s recapitalization is designed to cut its huge $2.0 billion debt. The move will convert $1.8 billion of that debt into $850 million of new debt that will not be due until 2018 and 2022. The recapitalization will also give the debtholders $250 million in cash and 82.5% of a new class of common shares that will replace the old common shares. That leaves 17.5% of the new common shares for holders of existing convertible debentures, preferred…