RH Donnelley, which acquired SEM firm LocalLaunch in 2006 and owns the local search/online yellow pages site DexKnows, has announced the acquisition of Business.com and its related properties for $350 million.

According to PaidContent, there was an auction that included IAC, Dow Jones, News Corp. and the New York Times Company. According to comScore, Business.com’s network reach and unique visitors put it in the top 50 of US ad networks.

The acquisition will enable the yellow pages publisher diversify its online revenue base and gain technology that will help the overall business. Business.com CEO Jake Winebaum will become the new head of RH Donnelley’s Internet unit “RHDi,” to be based in Santa Monica, CA.

Here’s more detail from my blog.

Related Topics: Search Engines: B2B Engines | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling