Out-of-home firm APN Outdoor is allegedly contemplating a double acquisition which will see the outdoor media giant take over Queensland's Metrospace Outdoor Advertising, along with assets from Independent Outdoor Media (iOM).

The deal could see APN Outdoor fork out some $40m for both Metrospace and iOM’s assets.  

Metrospace has a prolific presence in Queensland’s outdoor media industry, with 130 sites situated across Brisbane, Cairns, Gladstone and Hervey Bay. 

iOM operates outdoor advertising across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and has been in divestment mode for the last several years.

ProPrint contacted APN Outdoor’s media team, however they were unavailable for comment.

APN’s potential acquisition makes part of a wider outdoor industry consolidation, including Val Morgan Outdoor’s acquisition of Active Media Group, and oOh!media’s takeover of digital publishing group Junkee Media.

The group’s renewed focus on outdoor and digital media closely follows APN’s complete exist from printed publishing after it sold its Australian regional newspaper division (ARM) to News Corp for a $36m sum.

Australia’s out-of-home (OOH) industry has been riding the growth wave for some time, its 2016 second quarter results pushing revenue to $184m, up from $156m for the same period last year.

“OOH audiences continue to grow in a time when other traditional media channel audiences decline, as consumers increasingly demand to be served advertising on their terms,” says Outdoor Media Association (OMA) chief executive Charmaine Moldrich.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter