Yell waits on lenders to approve deal

Yellow Pages publisher Yell said it is waiting on approvals from two lenders for its refinancing plans, send its shares up 15 percent on hopes it can avoid a lengthy court battle.

Approval from the two loan holders would see the company achieve the 95 percent acceptance level necessary to amend Yell's 3.9 billion-pound bank loans and open the door to a 500 million-pound equity raising.

Yell gave its lenders a deadline of 5 p.m. on Thursday to respond to its requests to approve the deal.

"Yell has made significant progress over the last 24 hours and is now awaiting acceptances from the final two lenders" Yell said in a statement.

By 8:44 a.m. on Friday its share price was up 12 percent at 55.4 pence.

The company, struggling with an advertising downturn and a structural shift away from print publishing, said agent bank HSBC will confirm the final count of lenders.

Yell's lender group comprises some 300 banks and funds, complicating the process of securing agreement on a debt deal.