U.S. yellow-pages publisher R.H. Donnelley Corp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday and said the move would slash its debt by about $6.4 billion.

The company does not plan to seek debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing as it has more than $300 million in cash, and its positive cash flows from operations will be more than sufficient to fund its operations during the restructuring process, it said in a statement.

R.H. Donnelley said its total cash interest expense would be slashed by about $500 million annually.

The company's unsecured bonds of about $6 billion will be exchanged for 100 percent equity of the restructured company, while existing shareholders will be completely wiped out.

In a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, R.H. Donnelley listed total assets of about $11.88 billion and total debts of about $12.37 billion.

The company had said last week that it was seeking support of its bank lenders as part of a potential comprehensive debt restructuring plan, after it missed a $55 million interest payment on a series of senior unsecured notes due on April 15.

It exercised a 30-day grace period for the payment and then asked creditors for a forbearance until May 28.

Competitor Idearc Inc filed for bankruptcy protection in March and said it had agreed with its lenders to reduce its total debt from around $9 billion to $3 billion in secured bank loans.

The case is In re: R.H. Donnelley Corp, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No 09-11833.

(Additional reporting by Santosh Nadgir; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gopakumar Warrier)