PagesJaunes Acquires 123people From Gamma Capital

France’s PagesJaunes, an online and print-based yellow pages provider, has announced the finalization of an agreement to acquire 100% ownership of 123people. The addition of the Austrian real-time people search engine instantly expands PagesJaunes’ internet audience and gives increased opportunities for advertisers. The company also stands to benefit from 123people’s SEO capability which should help their internet properties across the board.

123people (www.123people.com)
123people was launched in 2008 as a real-time internet people search site. With incubation help from i5invest and venture capital from Gamma Capital Partners, 123people has experienced explosive growth in its short life span. The company has established sites in ten countries throughout Europe and North America with a combined 40 million unique visitors in its first two years of operation. 123people credits a proprietary search algorithm as a big part of the company’s success, providing search results including phone numbers, email addresses, images, videos, and social network and Wikipedia profiles.

gamma capital partners (www.gamma-capital.com)
Austria’s Gamma Capital Partners (GCP) is a venture capital firm focused on technology companies in the ICT and life science sectors. GCP currently manages three VC funds with a combined capitalization of more than €80 million as well as a mezzaninefund and one fund-of-funds. Institutional and private investors from around the world give GCP a solid backing.

PagesJaunes Groupe (bienvenue.pagesjaunes.fr)
PagesJaunes is France’s industry leader in providing yellow page advertising and information listing services in a variety of formats. The company’s printed directories, telephone activated information service, and various internet properties provide advertising venues for more than 770,000 clients in Europe. As one of France’s top three internet advertising providers, PagesJaunes’ online properties generated more than €500 million of the company’s combined 2009 revenues of €1.2 billion. PagesJaunes employs a sales force of more than 2,300.