Yellow Pages buys over 50s site

RICHARD BARON/Fairfax Media

GROWN UP: Yellow Pages Group has bought a majority stake in grownups.co.nz, a website aimed at people over the age of 50.

Relevant offers

IT & Telcos

EPMU prepares Visionstream campaign Welcome news as TV ad revenue increases Freeview uptake rising slowly 2degrees chief stepping down Spin muddies the waters Trade Me holds off on Google lists Eyede merger a 'smart' move Cranking up the creative juices MediaWorks reprieve on tax case Commission acts to remove barrier

Yellow Pages Group has bought a majority stake in grownups.co.nz, a website aimed at people over the age of 50.

Voted the best lifestyle website at the 2008 NetGuide People's Choice Awards, grownups.co.nz gets about 75,000 unique browsers per month.

Yellow Pages' digital marketing director Blair Glubb said there were good benefits to be reaped from combining grownups.co.nz with Yellow Pages, which publishes the Retirement Guide. He said grownups.co.nz had loyal existing browsers and Yellow Pages reached more than a million New Zealanders per month.

"Over 1.2 million New Zealanders are in this age group and 65 per cent of them use the internet daily," Glubb said.

Grownups.co.nz will continue to be managed by co-founder Richard Poole who will remain on the board with fellow founder, Shane Bradley. The two will also retain shareholdings in the business.

Poole said the site aimed to be a "one stop shop" for those aged over 50 offering social networking, travel information and health services.

Yellow Pages is owned by Hong Kong-based CCMP Capital Asia and Canada's Teachers' Private Equity, who bought the directories business for $2.24 billion from Telecom in March 2007.

- More BusinessDay.co.nz stories

- © Fairfax NZ News