Local Insight Media Emerges from Chapter 11 as The Berry Company, LLC

DENVER, Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Local Insight Media Holdings, Inc. announced its successful emergence from Chapter 11 restructuring as The Berry Company, LLC ("Berry"), effective Friday, November 18, 2011.

"Emergence represents a major milestone for our company," said John Fischer, Berry's newly appointed Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. "Since filing for voluntary Chapter 11 protection one year ago, we completed a complex restructuring, reduced the company's debt by more than 90 percent and implemented a simplified corporate structure. We now have the benefit of a strong balance sheet, a well-conceived business plan and a streamlined structure to enable Berry to effectively meet advertisers' needs for local search solutions.

"We are proud of our employees' dedication as we worked towards this day," Fischer added.  "Berry has a 100-year heritage of excellent service and effective lead-generating solutions for its telephone company clients and local advertisers.  We look forward to building on this legacy as we expand our product suite to include digital, social and mobile solutions that help businesses reach today's connected consumers."

Mr. Fischer assumed his post at emergence after serving as the company's General Counsel and Secretary since 2006. He replaces Scott Brubaker, a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, who has served as the company's interim President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2011.

"As advertisers face the increased complexity of the local media landscape, we believe that Berry, with its extensive local media experience and network of client relationships, is in a unique position to bring innovative and effective local advertising campaigns to the SME market," said Scott Eisenberg, Vice President at GSO Capital Partners. "As Berry's largest shareholder, we at GSO look forward to supporting and working with the team."

The company also announced its new board of directors:

• James Continenza, Chairman of the Board, has served as a senior executive turning around underperforming businesses in a variety of industries.  He is the former President of STI Prepaid, LLC and the former Interim Chief Executive Officer of Anchor Glass Container Corp, Inc.  In both positions, Mr. Continenza developed a new strategic focus for each company's core competencies to achieve market and cost synergies.  Mr. Continenza has served in senior leadership roles in turn-arounds at a number of other companies, including Teligent, Inc.
• Scott Eisenberg is a Vice President with GSO Capital Partners, where he is focused on public and private investments in the technology and media sectors.  He previously held positions at JPMorgan Securities, where he had research responsibilities in the technology and data networking sectors, and at Lehman Brothers, where he served in its Private Equity division as a member of the Media and Communications Fund.
• Michael Sileck has served as a Special Advisor to the board of directors of Media New Group, Inc., the nation's second largest newspaper company, since September 2011.  He served as Interim Chief Revenue Officer and a director of Media News Group, Inc. from January 2011 to September 2011.  He formerly held senior executive positions with World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and is the former CFO of Monster Worldwide, Inc.
• Geoff Stevens is Chief Revenue Officer of WebVisible, Inc., a local online marketing products and services company. He previously served as Chief Product Officer of U.S. Search; as Vice President, Product Management – Mobile Media of Infospace; and as General Manager, Local & Mobile of Yahoo!
• John Fischer is Berry's Interim President and Chief Executive Officer.  Prior to joining Local Insight Media in 2006, Mr. Fischer served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Dex Media, Inc. His experience includes serving as Managing Partner, Telecoms, of Logica Consulting, a European management consultancy; serving as General Counsel of LCC International, Inc.; and engaging in private law practice.

About The Berry Company, LLC: The Berry Company is a leading provider of local search and marketing solutions, generating leads for its advertising clients and enabling consumers to efficiently find the products and services they need. The Berry Company serves approximately 200,000 advertising clients throughout the United States. As an authorized reseller of YP.com in all of its markets, The Berry Company provides its clients with online listings and video advertising through this leading national Internet Yellow Pages site. The Berry Company also provides small and medium-sized businesses with website development and search engine marketing services, and is a Google Qualified Company.

For more information about The Berry Company, please go to www.theberrycompany.com.  

SOURCE Local Insight Media Holdings, Inc.