I Squared wins bidding war for oOh!media with A$735 million deal

I Squared Capital has emerged as the winner of a bidding war for Australian outdoor advertising company oOh!media, striking an agreement valued at roughly $735 million, according to reports on the transaction. oOh!media operates billboard, street furniture, retail and transit advertising inventory across Australia and New Zealand. The out-of-home sector has drawn repeated interest from infrastructure and private capital buyers, which treat advertising concessions and long-dated site leases as infrastructure-like assets with contracted cash flows. Completion of the transaction would remove one of the few remaining listed pure-play out-of-home advertising businesses from the Australian market. Terms, conditions and the timetable for shareholder and regulatory approvals were not detailed in the initial reports.