McLeod U-S-A Publishing sold to foreign company

A Cedar Rapids telecommunications company has sold its publishing unit to a company based in the U-K for 600-million-dollars. McLeod USA ended a previous agreement with Forstmann Little, which hadagreed not to charge a breakup fee if a better offer was found. YellLtd.topped the Forstmann Little offer by 65-million. Yell is Britain’sbiggest phone directory publisher. To cope with slumping demand for itsservices, McLeodUSA has been cutting jobs, selling assets and abandoningplans to build a national network. The company posted a 3-billion dollar3rd quarter loss. Shares of McLeodUSA fell 3 cents to 16 cents on Friday.The stock has dropped more than 99 percent in the past year. The McLeodUSAbrand will stay on the directories in its 25- state region for at least fiveyears, according to the agreement.