ACON Investments and MidOcean Partners announced today that they have merged their respective portfolio companies, Fairway Outdoor Advertising and Olympus Media, to form Fairway Media Group. “We believe this transaction will drive tremendous growth and value,” said Ken Brotman a Founding Partner of ACON. “The combined company will have the increased scale and market presence to continue growing and investing in new technologies.”
The combined company has more than 21,300 bulletin and poster displays in 17 states across the Southeast and Midwest and is now the fourth largest traditional outdoor advertising company in the U.S. The company will be headquartered in Greenville, SC (www.fairwayoutdoor.com) (www.olympusmediallc.com).
Mark Moyer, the current Chief Executive Officer of Fairway Outdoor, will be the Chief Executive Officer of Fairway Media. “Fairway Outdoor is excited about combining with Olympus to more fully exploit the growth opportunities available in the outdoor advertising industry including digital technology, new measurement systems, tuck-in acquisitions and other future growth opportunities,” said Mr. Moyer. “Building on the success that both Fairway Outdoor and Olympus have achieved to date, we believe this combination represents an excellent opportunity for the employees, customers, shareholders, local communities and other key stakeholders in Fairway Media.”
ACON Investments manages private equity funds and special purpose partnerships in the US and Latin America. ACON pursues a theme-based investment strategy by focusing on industries and businesses at key inflection points in their development and pursues these opportunities in close partnership with established management teams. ACON has offices in Washington, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City and Sao Paulo (www.aconinvestments.com).
MidOcean Partners is a private equity firm focused on the middle market. MidOcean seeks companies with stable market positions and multiple opportunities for growth. Industries of interest include consumer, media and communications, business and financial services and industrial services. The firm has offices in New York, NY and London, UK (www.midoceanpartners.com).
“We are excited about merging Olympus with Fairway Outdoor to create a truly unique asset within the outdoor advertising industry. We believe there are numerous opportunities to continue to grow Fairway Media both organically and through acquisition, in both existing and new markets,” said Tyler Zachem, Managing Director at MidOcean.
Hogan Lovells served as legal advisor to ACON. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to MidOcean.
