Antin Infrastructure Partners acquires majority stake in outdoor media infra owner Wildstone

Wildstone Capital, one of the fastest growing owners of outdoor media infrastructure assets in Europe, has announced that Antin Infrastructure Partners has acquired a majority stake in its business from DigitalBridge.

Hammersmith-headquartered Wildstone is accelerating its ramp up of expansion across Europe, which has grown ten-fold in the last 18 months. The company founded in 2010 by CEO Damian Cox, is unique in its aggregation of outdoor media assets in the UK, with a growing presence in Europe.

Wildstone has a portfolio of over 3,000 outdoor advertising assets across the UK, Ireland and The Netherlands including super-premium digital billboards located along major roads and motorways.

A Wildstone media release cites that the UK and European OOH media market is at the early stages of transformation from paper panels to digital screens and its growth is on a fast upward trajectory. Industry experts predict that in 5 years, every panel in outdoor advertising that can be, will be digital.

Wildstone have been at the forefront of the digital revolution in the sector and have shifted the focus of the entire industry away from paper to digital.

“The Wildstone management team has a proven track record of growing its portfolio by acquiring traditional paper panel assets and upgrading them to next -generation screen technology backed by long-term fixed income inflation-linked contracts. The partnership with Antin will enable Wildstone in this next chapter of its growth by replicating the platform’s success in the UK across new European markets,” the release states.

Damian Cox, CEO and Founder of Wildstone stated: “Europe represents a huge untapped opportunity and expansion to these territories is a natural extension of our business model, which is to acquire, upgrade and scale. The future of outdoor media infrastructure is digital, and we are, by far, the best positioned to capture a substantial piece of the global market share. Antin recognises the significant growth potential and together we are well placed to accelerate expansion.”

Stéphane Ifker, Senior Partner at Antin commented: “With the UK market expected to achieve 70% digitalisation within 10 years, we are excited to support Wildstone in scaling up UK operations and replicating its success across key European markets. Outdoor media infrastructure is a trusted broadcast medium with a national reach, which makes it essential for the advertising value chain and public stakeholders.”