Yelp has acquired European reviews site Qype. Yelp has acquired all of Qype’s shares, for about €18.6 million and 970,000 shares of Yelp’s Class A common stock, bringing the total purchase price to about $50 million USD.

Qype is based in Germany, but also has operations in the UK, and Yelp notes that the acquisition will be recorded in its fourth quarter and 2012 year-end financial statements.

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said, “I am excited to welcome Qype’s employees and users to Yelp. We have built a solid foundation in Europe and this acquisition should significantly increase our international presence. With its strong local content in key markets like Germany and the United Kingdom, we believe that Qype will help Yelp become the de facto choice for local search in those markets. Qype’s established European sales force will also bring more local business owners into the Yelp ecosystem, which in turn will bolster our mission to connect people with great local businesses all over the world.”

Yelp has been expanding in Europe all year. In March, it launched in Sweden. In April, it launched in Denmark. In May, it launched in Norway. In June, it launched in Finland. In July, it expanded its UK operations. Just this month, Yelp launched in Poland. Now, with this acquisition, it’s clear that Yelp is really going for dominance in Europe.

Qype CEO Ian Brotherston talked about the news on the Qype blog. “There is no question that Yelp has been a leading force in the local business reviews space for years,” he says. “They have built an international product and brand that has generated north of 30 million reviews; a site that more than 78 million monthly unique visitors seek when looking for a great local business.”

“Through the hard work of our employees and our users, more than two million reviews of local businesses have been contributed to our site and we are now seeing more than 15 million monthly unique visitors,” he adds. “Our users reviews and opinions will be amplified as we become part of a much bigger and broader platform.”

Yelp also provided preliminary financial results for the third quarter. Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 exceeded the company’s previous guidance. Revenue is expected to be about $36.4 million, with a net loss of $2 million expected for the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be about $2.2 million.

The company will put out its actual earnings report on November 1.