Wildstone acquires Total Outdoor Media's billboards in VIC

Wildstone has announced its acquisition of Total Outdoor Media's entire portfolio of regional billboards in Victoria, a move that bolsters its presence in Australia.

The acquisition comprises 14 digital and 38 classic billboard sites, marking Wildstone's first major portfolio purchase in the country. This latest transaction follows an earlier sale-and-leaseback agreement with Alliance Outdoor Media Group, designed to fund new digital sites in Australia.

Upon completion of the Total Outdoor Media (TOM) deal, Wildstone will have full ownership of the regional assets. This development will allow the company to establish new partnerships with media operators interested in managing the advertising for these sites.

Wildstone's approach involves providing flexible capital support to media operators and billboard owners, whether for digitising existing sites or facilitating market exits. The TOM acquisition aligns with this strategy, furthering the company's aim to deliver high-quality, revenue-generating sites in crucial locations such as Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Shepparton, and Wangaratta.

"We're thrilled to have completed our first acquisition in the Australian market and especially pleased to have secured such a strong regional portfolio. Through this deal, we are enabling regional centres to take advantage of digitisation as we know the regional audience is a growing and critical part of many outdoor campaigns," said Noel Cook, Managing Director for Wildstone Australia.

He added: "We will continue to support media operators and look for further opportunities in regional areas, as well as also being very much open to metro locations. We see the value in having billboard inventory across a diverse range of Australian markets and this acquisition is just the beginning, with more exciting announcements on the horizon as the company continues to expand its footprint."

Ged Hart, Managing Director at TOM, commented: "We're delighted to have reached this agreement with Wildstone Australia and are incredibly proud of the premium regional assets TOM has built in Victoria. The strong demand from advertisers underscores the growing importance of regional out-of-home media. With Wildstone's vision and expertise, we're confident these sites will continue to thrive, unlocking even greater opportunities for advertisers in key regional markets."

This move is part of Wildstone's global expansion plan, with recent acquisitions in Germany and Spain adding to its portfolio, which now exceeds 5,400 billboards across six countries. In its base market in the UK, Wildstone is known for its leadership in outdoor media asset ownership and has digitised over 1,000 billboards nationally.