Outdoor Systems of Phoenix, Arizona has completed its acquisition of Gannett Co.’s outdoor division and, along with that, Toronto-based Mediacom.
When the sale was first announced in July, there was speculation that Outdoor Systems would sell the Canadian company when the deal was completed.
Brian McLean, president and ceo of Mediacom, says that is not the case.
‘Outdoor Systems seems more committed than ever. They’ve had offers from all over the world for Mediacom but they have said they didn’t buy Mediacom to sell it but because they’re excited about being in Canada.’
Unlike Gannett, which also has tv, newspaper and radio interests, the focus of the new owners is strictly outdoor advertising.
McLean says, ‘These are very focused, competitive guys. It’s going to give us an edge in the community.
‘The better geared up we are to have seamless cross-border shopping [in outdoor] the smarter we’re all going to be.’
The acquisition makes Outdoor Systems the largest outdoor advertising company in North America with approximately 58,000 billboards, posters and transit displays.
About 13,000 units of that inventory belongs to Mediacom, which operates in every province in Canada except Alberta.
