JCDecaux buys APN for $1.12bn
- 26 June, 2018 11:45
Just a day after oOh!Media confirmed its acquisition of out-of-home advertising player, Adshel, for $570 million, JCDecaux has announced it will acquire ASX-listed APN Outdoor Group in a deal worth $1.12 billion.
JCDecaux’s revealed its intentions to acquire APN last week, announcing an unsolicited $1.09 billion bid for 100 per cent ownership of the OOH business, based on a purchase price of $6.52 per share. Today’s offer sees this increased to $6.70 per share, a FY18 multiple of 12.9.
The purchase is subject to several conditions including approval from the ACCC, Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board and the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.
APN appeared to demonstrate initial reluctance to take up JCDecaux’s offer last week, instead choosing to up its own multi-million dollar bid for Adshel to $540 million. APN previously offered $500 million for the business on 22 May.
Upon oOh! announcing its successful bid for Adshel, APN called a trading halt on the ASX pending its own M&A news.
In a statement today, APN Outdoor chairman, Doug Flynn, said the JCDecaux scheme is an attractive, all-cash transaction being unanimously supported by the board of directors and makes for a compelling proposition for shareholders. The company hopes to close the deal in Q4.
“The recommended acquisition of APN Outdoor by JCDecaux represents an excellent outcome for our shareholders, staff and partners,” APN CEO and MD, James Warburton, continued.
“JCDecaux’s proposal is testament to the position APN Outdoor holds in the Australia and New Zealand media sectors and our recent strong performance, winning and retaining key new contracts.”
JCDecaux operates more than 1 million OOH panels across 80 countries and has 13,000 employees and revenues of EU3.5billion. APN meanwhile, has more than 40,000 OOH touchpoints across A/NZ.
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