APN Outdoor chief executive officer James Warburton has made it very clear since he joined the business early this year he was keen to grow the business via acquisition.
Yesterday the outdoor company confirmed to the ASX it had made a proposal to acquire 100% of Adshel Australia and New Zealand.
The statement from APN Outdoor came as oOh!media confirmed it had made a second offer for Adshel on April 30 after the first offer was rebuffed by owner HT&E.
Unconfirmed reports indicate the offers are both close to half a billion dollars.
The APN Outdoor statement to the ASX noted:
“The proposal is subject to a range of conditions, including due diligence, definitive agreements and applicable regulatory approvals (e.g. ACCC and NZCC).
“Adshel’s street furniture business would provide an attractive complement to APO’s existing out-of-home product offering.
“At this early stage, no agreement has been reached between the parties and there is no certainty that the proposal will result in any transaction.
“APO will keep the market updated in relation to the proposal as required by its continuous disclosure obligations.”
Adshel added that Cadence Advisory is acting as financial adviser and Allens as legal adviser to APO in relation to this potential transaction.
Meanwhile HT&E yesterday confirmed the two offers and it was continuing to work with financial advisers CLSA Corporate Finance and Credit Suisse, together with its legal adviser Baker McKenzie, to assist it in reviewing them.
HT&E indicated the revised offer from oOh!media was not the most attractive offer and does not offer compelling value for shareholders.
HT&E added: “[We] had offered to engage with oOh!media to enable it to more appropriately value Adshel so as to improve their price, including by providing further due diligence financial information subject to execution of a confidentiality agreement and on a non-exclusive basis. That offer was declined by oOh!media.”
Top photo: APN Outdoor CEO James Warburton