Yell equity issue lined up as debt deal secured

Yellow Pages publisher Yell secured the backing of lenders for refinancing deal, it said on Monday, allowing it to raise 500 million pounds in equity, sending its shares soaring.

Yell shares rose sharply on the news, trading 13 percent higher at 57.9 pence at 8:51 a.m..

The company needed 95 percent of its lenders - owed almost 4 billion pounds - to approve the refinancing deal, but needed to extend a deadline for acceptances three times to get the required number.

"We are naturally very grateful to all our lenders for what is virtually unanimous support and look forward to announcing details of the planned equity raise in the near future" said John Davis, Yell's chief financial officer, in a statement.

The company plans to approach its major shareholders and announce details of the equity issue as soon as practicable, it said.