Shareholders of QMS Media, a provider of digital and static outdoor advertising in Australia and New Zealand, will vote today on whether to accept a $1.22 per share offer by Quadrant Private Equity.
Under the scheme, Shelley BidCo Pty Ltd, a special purpose company controlled by Quadrant Private Equity, would acquire 100 per cent of the shares in QMS Media Ltd (ASX: QMS) with the company valued at $420m.
QMS Media provides outdoor static and digital signage across Australia and New Zealand and the bid has also been approved by both the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.
The offer from Quadrant Private Equity and BidCo was made in October 2019 with a Scheme Implementation Deed (SID) entered into shortly after.
The scheme consideration values QMS Media’s equity at about $420.6 million and an enterprise value of $571.6 million.
The scheme has been unanimously recommended by the QMS Media board and has now also been approved by the Australia Foreign Investment Review Board and New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.
“QMS’s Board of Directors continues to unanimously recommend that QMS shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to the Independent Expert appointed to assess the merits of the scheme continuing to conclude that the scheme is in the best interest of QMS shareholders,” QMS Media chairman Wayne Stevenson said in a statement to the ASX.
If the scheme is implemented QMS Media chief executive officer and director Barclay Nettlefold will remain a director of QMS Media.
Previously, Nettlefold said the recommended acquisition of QMS by Quadrant represents an excellent outcome for shareholders, partners and employees.
“It is a testament to our sustained growth in a challenging market, and our continued market leading digital revenue contribution, led by our strong and experienced executive management team,” he said at the time.
Should the shareholders approve the deal it will represent yet more consolidation in the OOH sector which saw some of the biggest changes in recent history in 2018.
oOH!media purchased Adshel for $570m in 2018 and days later French signage company JC Decaux bought APN Outdoor for $1.2b.
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