Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
Ocean Outdoor Limited is continuing its acquisition trail in the Nordics with a recommended public offer to acquire all the outstanding shares in AdCityMedia AB (ACM), the Sweden-based OOH operator which is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market. This transaction of course, follows the recent acquisition of Visual Art, the Stockholm-based pure-play digital out of home media and tech group.
The combination of ACM and Visual Art will enhance Ocean Outdoor’s presence in Sweden, Denmark and Finland and sees Ocean enter the Norwegian out of home market through ACM’s established portfolio of assets there.
Anders Axelsson, CEO of AdCityMedia, said “Safe to say, DOOH has never been in a healthier position. We haven’t yet scratched the surface of opportunity that our channel can give to brands wanting to communicate with digital citizens in the Nordics. Becoming part of the Ocean family and a bigger entity presents a whole new set of tools to push DOOH to the next level. The opportunity for DOOH and Ocean in the Nordics is off the scale, and the team are really looking forward to working with our clients and agencies on the next stage of the DOOH voyage with Ocean.”
The combined revenue of both companies represents approximately 20% of the OOH market in Sweden, with a strong position in the DOOH segment.
AdCityMedia is a premium out of home operator focussed in large format digital and high end city centre locations in Sweden and Norway, with around 4,500 digital screens in approximately 1,500 locations. These include a mix of retail and leisure destinations in key cities including Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Oslo as well as other key urban and rural locations.
ACM also operates digital signage solutions across the Nordics. The business supports retail customers to manage their own media channels through digital in-store screens with high-tech functionality or large format advertising on facades.
The addition of ACM to Ocean Group’s portfolio introduces the Nordics to a pure-play OOH power-house with the ability to leverage and deliver premium, high impact surfaces and digital reach through a DOOH network comprised of several thousands of digital screens delivering proprietary technology and content, powered by data and research.
Ocean Group CEO Tim Bleakley told us “This deal will take Ocean into seven of Europe’s key advertising countries with a footprint of over 100 million people. The combination of ACM and Visual Art will be the coming together of a talented, entrepreneurial, ambitious and disruptive team of people with a shared passion for innovative screen solutions for brands and landlords. The opportunity for digital out of home in the Nordic countries is huge and we look forward to the team introducing Ocean’s ‘The Art of Outdoor’ to all stakeholders, landlords, media agencies and advertisers over the coming months.”
The acquisition of AdCityMedia is Ocean’s sixth transaction since March 2018 when Ocean was acquired by Ocelot.
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