APN Outdoor is stepping into an agreement with French giant JCDecaux, with it offering $6.70 a share, or around $1.2bn to buy the Australian outdoor advertiser in a deal made this morning.
The move comes just one day after APN was outbid by oOh!media in a battle to acquire Adshel. oOh! secured the out of home division from Here, There and Everywhere for $570m. JCDecaux proposed to buy APN on the condition it withdrew from attempting to buy Adshel, but the Australian firm still made an offer of $540m.
The two deals have seen $1.77bn change hands for control of the country’s booming outdoor media market.
The JCDecaux APN deal is still subject to approval from the ACCC and the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and possibly the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.
James Warburton, CEO of APN says, “The recommended acquisition of APN Outdoor by JCDecaux represents an excellent outcome for our shareholders, staff and partners. JCDecaux’s proposal is testament to the position APN outdoor holds in the Australian and New Zealand media sectors and our recent strong performance, winning and retaining key new contracts.
[Related: oOh! takes Adshel for $570m]
“The scheme is great news for APN staff. JCDecaux is a leading global out-of-home company, with more than 1 million advertising panels in more than 80 countries, more than 13,000 employees and 2017 revenue of €3,493m.”
Jean-François Decaux, co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “This acquisition is a significant milestone in JCDecaux’s history in Australia, which is the seventh largest advertising market worldwide, where we have been growing organically since 2000.
“APN Outdoor is complementary to our existing street furniture assets and through this acquisition, JCDecaux will be attractively positioned to provide a compelling proposition to compete more effectively in the Australian media market where Out of Home accounts for 6 per cent of advertising spend, of which almost 50 per cent is digital.
“Finally, we are delighted to enter New Zealand, a fast-growing market.”
Doug Flynn, APN Outdoor Chairman says, “The JCDecaux Scheme is an attractive all-cash transaction, the APN Outdoor Board has unanimously concluded that the scheme represents a compelling transaction for APN Outdoor shareholders.”
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