Executives with Verizon Communications approved a decision yesterday to spin-off the company`s Yellow Pages and directories business.

The spin-off will result in the creation of a new public corporation, called Idearc Inc., which will be headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and have a total of 7,100 employees.

Verizon Information Services, as the directories division is currently called, generated $3.45 billion in revenue last year, but is facing increased competition from internet search engines like Yahoo Inc. By spinning off the business, Verizon is attempting to refocus its efforts in high-growth areas like fiber optic broadband and wireless, while giving its investors the opportunity to keep profiting from the Yellow Pages industry.

Analysts expect the total value of Idearc to be somewhere between $13 billion and $17 billion, after the spin-off is completed.