Billboard Insider asked Adams Outdoor President and CEO Kevin Gleason to comment on the equity investment by Searchlight Capital Partners “(Searchlight”) and British Columbia Investment Management Corp (“BCI”) in Adams Outdoor Advertising (“AOA”).  Gleason said this:

Stephen Adams and the leadership team at Adams Outdoor Advertising are interested in leveraging growth opportunities in this very dynamic period for OOH. While other forms of media continue to manage declines, the OOH industry, we believe, is capable of tremendous growth. In an effort to assist us in that objective we determined access to more capital was needed. As such, we hired Mark Boidman and the PJ Solomon team to help us find the right partner. We were looking for a partner that was the right fit, a group that would understand and appreciate the type of company we have built over the past thirty eight years. Adams Outdoor loves being the dominant player in midsize markets where, not only are we the voice for OOH but the dominant voice for local media in general. As such, we were looking for a partner that could foster our operating behavior and not attempt to change our DNA.

In initial discussions with Darren Glatt at Searchlight, it became obvious to us that based upon his history with Ocean Outdoor, he was a big fan of the billboard industry. More importantly, Darren has a highly developed interest in media and tech companies that impact and transform cities and communities at the local level which is very aligned with the Adams Outdoor Advertising business model. BCI, having partnered with Searchlight on other transactions in the past, also believes in this vision.

That’s what makes this new entity so solid.  We all believe in the power of OOH and know that power is in our hands.

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