Telstra subsidiary Sensis has won informal clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to acquire online directory TrueLocal.
The "informal clearance" means the companies can go ahead and complete the transaction. News Limited announced the sale of TrueLocal to Sensis in January, saying the business was “no longer a priority” for the company.
Sensis senior managing director John Allan applauded the ACCC decision, saying TrueLocal will play a key role in his company’s digital strategy.
“It has a site with thousands of information rich business listings and more than 200,000 user reviews which enables the site to generate millions of searches each month,” Allan said in a statement.
“TrueLocal will soon be complemented by listings from paid Yellow Pages Online customers, which will extend our customers’ presence across the Yellow Pages Search Network.”
BuddeComm analyst Paul Budde has said the Sensis/TrueLocal deal shows Telstra frantic to fight the threat of over-the-top players.
A recent report by Ovum said over the top providers represent a major threat to telcos in Australia.
The move by Telstra followed Optus’ $6 million acquisition last year of Eatability, a restaurant directory.
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