Recently relisted Out of Home media owner Ocean Outdoor has made its first foray into continental Europe, buying Ngage Media and Interbest in the Netherlands.
The two acquired companies operate substantial large format full motion city centre and roadside advertising portfolios across all the Dutch municipalities, covering key cities including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.
Ngage Media is a 100 per cent pure play digital operator with 76 large full motion digital screens in 50 locations across the Randstad megalopolis which includes Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.
Interbest is the country’s biggest independent roadside operator with 88 digital and static OOH masts in prime locations on the busiest road and motorway networks. Its portfolio covers all the Dutch municipalities including the Randstad.
Ocean CEO Tim Bleakley says: “These are two attractive businesses with very clear, complementary digital strategies with talented and focussed management in different spheres of the OOH sector. Their combination will create an enhanced offer which benefits all stakeholders, landlords, municipalities and advertisers along with the media and specialist agencies.
“Ocean has established a strong track record of unlocking the true value of acquired businesses. We plan to accelerate both company’s development plans, aligning the businesses within their own markets by sharing digital OOH expertise and fast-tracking investment. Ocean has developed a strong, long term relationship with the management teams who were among the first international partners in Ocean’s Alliance network. We are really looking forward to working even closer with them on this next stage of the Ocean voyage.”
Ocean chairman Tom Goddard says: ““Holland is one of Europe’s most dynamic media markets, with top class professionals working across the spectrum, so I have no doubt this move is going to be both successful and symbiotic for everyone involved.”
Xavier Tilman, Ngage Media managing partner and founder, says: “Joining Ocean, and the cooperation with Interbest, enables us to enhance our objective to enlarge our digital footprint in the domestic Dutch market as well as our international ambitions to develop the medium digital OOH.”
Meindert van den Heuvel, Interbest managing director, says: “This is a landmark deal which allows us to jointly develop new propositions for advertisers and grow digital roadside advertising at speed. Rolling this out under the premium Ocean brand proposition marks an exciting new era for digital OOH advertising in the Netherlands.”
Ocean Group acquired Forrest Media from the Forrest Group in Scotland in March 2018, now operating as Ocean Scotland; Signature Outdoor, West Midlands, in 2014; and MediaCo, Manchester in 2015.
