The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken the important next step in launching reviews of the outdoor media industry’s two big acquisition deals.
For oOh!media’s $570 million acquisition of Here, There & Everywhere’s Adshel, as well as JCDecaux’s $1.2 billion purchase of APN Outdoor, the ACCC is considering:
- how closely the two companies involved in each transaction compete with each other in supplying out-of-home (OOH) advertising services and leasing OOH advertising sites.
- whether the price of OOH advertising services would be likely to increase or the rents paid to OOH advertising site owners decrease as a result of each proposed acquisition.
- how easy it would be for the customers of the two companies involved in each transaction to switch to other suppliers (actual or potential) of relevant OOH advertising services after the proposed acquisition, and;
- how easy it would be for OOH advertising site owners to switch to other OOH advertising suppliers after the proposed acquisition.
Those wishing to protest either acquisition must have their submissions in to the ACCC by Tuesday 17 July. The competition watchdog is set to hand down its final decision on both deals Thursday 30 August.
