Global, the UK’s largest commercial radio group, has made the bold move into the out-of-home sector with the purchase of Primesight and Outdoor Plus.
The surprise double acquisition, to be named Global Outdoor, is estimated to have cost more than £200m.
Primesight has an advertising estate covering more than 35,000 sites nationwide, reaching over 95% of the UK population, while Outdoor Plus has a strong premium digital footprint, particularly in London where it runs ads at The One, Knightsbridge, The Hammersmith Towers and Euston Underpass, as well as a network of digital bridges in partnership with TfL.
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Founded by Jonathan Lewis in 2006, Outdoor Plus also has over 100 premium OOH sites nationally, including the Bluewater and Manchester Arndale shopping malls and premium digital roadside sites in Cardiff, Brighton and Bristol.
Jonathan Lewis and Primesight’s CEO, Naren Patel, will transition with their respective businesses to Global Outdoor, which will be overseen by Stephen Miron, Global’s Group CEO.
The new business will work alongside Global’s radio business and, whilst the two businesses will run stand alone, Global’s said its structure will “enable smart opportunities” for advertisers in the future.
“We’re incredibly excited to be entering the Out-of-Home (OOH) sector in a substantial way through the acquisition of Primesight and Outdoor Plus,” said Miron.
“We’ve always been strong supporters of outdoor advertising and understand the power of the medium – we see an extremely complimentary fit with our radio business. Similar to radio, OOH also continues to show consistent annual advertising growth and through the increase in digital out-of-home, we can see that the medium has great potential to grow even further.
“In both Jonathan Lewis and Naren Patel we are fortunate to have two of the most exceptional leaders and innovators in OOH, and I look forward to working with them as we build Global Outdoor.”
Commenting on the news, Nicole Lonsdale, chief planning officer at out-of-home specialist Kinetic, said the newly formed Global Outdoor looks potentially well placed to offer a ‘one-stop shop’ for integrated OOH and radio campaigns.
“Despite being a new entrant to the OOH sector, Global nonetheless has a strong commercial track record which suggests it could yet make further acquisitions to bolster their position against the market leaders,” she said.
Analysis to follow…
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