Directories group Yell today said it had secured another week to agree a refinancing deal for its £3.8bn debt mountain.

The group confirmed it had received backing from a “high percentage” of its 300 creditors by last Friday’s deadline, but needed more time to achieve the 95% approval rate by value.

Yell is said to have offered to raise £500m through an investor cash-call to pay off some of the debt, while also increasing the interest rate payable in return for an extension of the repayment date to 2014.

The process of gaining approval for the deal has been complicated by the sheer number of creditors involved and their lending committees.

John Davis, chief financial officer, said: “We are delighted to have had such a positive endorsement of our proposals from so many of our lenders.

“This is a massive logistical exercise as we have a very large number of lenders and we are pleased that so many have been able to respond in time.

“We are now extending the deadline to allow the remaining lenders more time to process our request through their credit committees.”

Yell racked up its hefty debt pile following acquisitions in Spain and the United States.

The Reading-based group’s current loan facilities expire in April 2011 and 2012 and Yell has been in talks with its lenders over restructuring the debt since the end of June.

Last year it had to turn to lenders to ask for more headroom for future covenants as recession bore down on the group.

The company has been grappling with a sharp fall in advertising revenues caused by the economic downturn.

It reported in July that revenues from its printed directories arm plunged by 17.4% in the quarter to June 30.

Sales at Yell.com increased, but the 8.6% rise was not enough to offset its hard-copy woes.

The debt restructuring has been a top priority for chairman Bob Wigley, a former Merrill Lynch investment banker who joined in July to replace Bob Scott.