SYDNEY: oOh!media has snapped up a leading Australian regional outdoor advertising company in a $40 million deal.
oOh!media will use the acquisition of Sports & Outdoor Media to tap into the increasingly important regional advertising market. It claims the company is the largest regional outdoor advertising company in Australia, comprising over 1,200 sites on major highways, railway lines and arterial roads throughout NSW, including the major regional centres of Newcastle, Wollongong and the Northern Rivers.
oOh!media, previously called Network Outdoor, acquired Sports & Outdoor’s Victorian assets in 2007, with the latest deal finalising full ownership of the company.
Brendan Cook, CEO of oOh!media, said the acquisition would allow the company to leverage the regional OOH market. Cook said changing demographics meant regional Australia now accounts for 39.5% of all grocery buyers.
“Through the Sports & Outdoor acquisition we will be able to make it easier for advertisers to buy, with one call, large format and in-shop campaigns that target this important market,” said Cook,
"While regional outdoor is currently generating less than 1% of regional media expenditure, the sales and marketing changes oOh!media is making will provide advertisers an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors’ media strategy.”
As of 1 September 2008, oOh!media will begin integrating Sports & Outdoor Media into its business, including all operational activities, financial performance, cash management and staff.
The company will complete the acquisition over two stages: the first will see oOh!media acquire 65% of the issued capital of Sports & Outdoor Pty Ltd on 1 September 2008, with the final 35% to follow on 21 December 2009.
The acquisition is oOh!media’s 14th in four years. The company posted 64.5% revenue growth for 2007 on the back of a year of strategic acquisitions, including Media Puzzle, which pushed Network’s share of the outdoor market to 15%, and Sport & Outdoor’s Victorian assets. The company also won the highly sought-after VicTrack tender last year.
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