Platinum Equity buying CBS Outdoor

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CBS OutdoorIt’s an irrevocable binding offer to acquire the assets of CBS Outdoor International for $225 million. CBSO International is among the largest out-of-home media and billboard businesses in Europe, providing custom media solutions to outdoor advertising agencies and direct clients in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and China.


CBS announced its intention to sell the business in January, and has primarily received offers from private equity firms. At that time, CBS began converting its outdoor segment in the Americas to a real-estate investment trust (REIT) and planned to divest the segment’s business in Europe and Asia. The goal was to increase shareholder value. Indeed, shares rose some 9% after the news came out.

Noted Wells Fargo Securities: “Given the London Underground contract and the generally poor state of the European economy we had expected a sale of CBS Outdoor International to be in the range of $150-170M, so the $225M announced today is well ahead of this (41%). Excluding the unprofitable UK contract we believe the deal represents a 8-10x multiple.”

Said Platinum Equity Chairman and CEO Tom Gores: “This was a complex carve out that required real collaboration between buyer and seller with a strong emphasis on quality of execution. We are fortunate to have developed a great relationship with CBS throughout this process.  With our international reach and operational resources we can move quickly to complete a seamless transition and create real value in this business.”

Said CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves:  “Today’s news represents a key strategic milestone for CBS. As we continue to focus our Company around creating and distributing premium content, we are very pleased to announce that we will achieve very good value for these Outdoor properties.”