3i has teamed up with Veronis Suhler Stevenson, the US merchant bank, for the second time to take advantage of regulatory changes and acquire a European directory business, jointly buying out Telemedia from KPN for €500m ($502m) in cash.

The UK-listed private equity firm worked with Veronis Suhler Stevenson earlier this year to acquire Sonera Information Communications, a Finnish directory company, for €112m. On that occasion 3i took 70% of the equity and Veronis Suhler Stevenson took 28%, with management taking the rest.