DEX One
| File:Logo rhd.gif | |
| Company type | Public (NYSE: RHD) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Directory Publishing |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, IL, USA |
| Products | Telephone Directories |
| Website | http://www.rhd.com |
R.H. Donnelley is a directory publishing company.
History
The R.H. Donnelley Company was founded in 1886 by Reuben Hamilton Donnelley as The Chicago Directory Company. Donnelley primarily contracted with The Chicago Telephone Company to publish telephone directories for Chicago Telephone customers. In 1906, however, Donnelley would venture outside Chicago, contracting with Bell System firms such as New York Telephone, Wisconsin Telephone, and Cincinnati Suburban Telephone Co.
In 1917, The Reuben H. Donnelley Company was incorporated and moved to New York City, retaining some offices in Chicago. In 1925, Donnelley died, leaving behind his company which continued to contract with the Bell System to publish telephone directories.
In 1961, Dun & Bradstreet Corp. traded stock with RHD, and RHD became a wholly owned subsidiary.
Partnerships
Following its acquisition by D&B, R.H. Donnelley began a series of partnerships with several telephone companies to publish directories. RHD also began competing with other telephone companies to provide directories.
From 1980-1985, RHD began a partnership with United Telephone (Sprint), called Uni-Don, to publish telephone directories to customers in central Florida.
In 1986, it contracts with NYNEX to become its directory sales agent. The same year, RHD starts publishing directories in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in competition with Bell Atlantic.
In 1988, it forms Cen-Don with Centel (now part of Sprint) to publish telephone directories in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. Venture One is formed with Southwestern Bell Corporation, which publishes directories in competition with Bell Atlantic in Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C.
In 1990, DonTech is formed with Ameritech to publish telephone directories in Illinois and northwest Indiana.
Public Offering
On July 1, 1998, D&B spins off RH Donnelley into a separate, publicly-traded company. RHD then begins trading on the NYSE under the "RHD" symbol.
In 2002, RHD acquires Sprint Directory Publishing, the publishing unit of Sprint Corp.
In 2004, RHD acquires the directory publishing business of SBC Communications in Illinois and northwest Indiana, along with the SBC interest in DonTech.
In 2006, RHD completed its acquistion of Dex Media, which was spun off from Qwest in 2003-2004. Following the acquistion, RHD becomes the third largest directory publisher in the United States.
Today
R.H. Donnelley currently operates in 28 states. It publishes the following directories:
- AT&T Yellow Pages published by R.H. Donnelley - Illinois and NW Indiana
- Sprint Yellow Pages - Sprint local telephone customers
- Dex - Qwest customers