Talon buys US OOH agency Grandesign

UK’s largest independent OOH media specialist Talon has expanded its U.S. coverage with the purchase of Grandesign, a U.S. independent OOH media agency headquartered in San Diego.

Grandesign is the second-largest independent OOH agency in the U.S., delivering traditional and experiential OOH across six offices. This purchase only affects Grandesign’s traditional vertical, as the experiential vertical will continue as a standalone.

Talon expands its U.S. operation outside New York (where Irina Zeltser is Managing Director) and establishes on the West Coast for the first time, adding to its growing global network with the acquisition. Each of Grandesign’s traditional offices – in San Diego, Denver, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Atlanta – will take the Talon name.

The purchase follows the recent appointment of Barry Cupples to the position of Global CEO at Talon and signals the agency’s intention to continue to grow globally, whilst building its business up over time through leading-edge technology, data, resource and culture. In the U.K., Talon has won numerous awards for its creativity, planning and people values.

Talon’s Founder and Executive Shareholder Eric Newnham says: “This is arguably our most exciting move to date with the U.S. offering real opportunity to embrace our approach that has brought success to date. Data and technology is enabling real differentiation and growth for us globally, and this is part of a wider expansion programme that is just beginning.”

“Aaron and the team have built a great business and culture at Grandesign which has made the first stage of our integration plan pretty seamless,” adds Adrian Skelton, managing partner at Talon. “We are excited about developing the best working practices from both agencies to elevate the quality of work across our U.S. client portfolio, while looking towards growth with a structured new business drive.”

Grandesign’s founder and former CEO Aaron Gaeir, who remains in the business as Chief Revenue Officer, reporting into Skelton, adds: “It was refreshing to find a likeminded company that is driven by cultivating people and building a tempting work environment, but also has best-in-class technology, data, the big shoulders and the executive leadership for continued aggressive growth. This is the secret to clear competitive advantages and market dominance and will enable us to reach our goals of becoming the largest and most sophisticated Out of Home buying service, not only in the U.S., but globally.”