oOh!media’s equity takeover is getting more crowded, with Australia’s largest outdoor media company telling the market it is “engaging with certain other parties” after rejecting two private equity offers.
AFR’s Street Talk reported Oaktree Capital Management has built a sub-five per cent stake in oOh!media and is weighing whether to submit its own non-binding indicative offer.
Sources told the publication that the US-based firm is understood to be weighing its own non-binding indicative offer, though dealmakers have not yet decided whether to proceed. oOh!media’s board is not currently sitting on another bid.
Investment bank Jefferies is also understood to be advising a potential bidder, which has previously worked with Nine.
Oaktree declined to comment when contacted by Mediaweek.
The bids already on the table
oOh!media has already rejected two takeover proposals: Pacific Equity Partners’ $1.40 per share offer, which represented a hefty 65% premium to the market price, and I Squared Capital’s even higher $1.45 per share offer.
The board said neither proposal has reached the preferred share price or “intrinsic value” mark, with limited due diligence on revised offers.
“The Board, together with our advisers, has considered and unanimously determined that they do not adequately reflect the intrinsic value of oOh!,” outgoing chair Tony Faure told shareholders at the company’s AGM.
If Oaktree makes a formal move, it would add another major private equity name to a process already involving (Macquarie-advised) PEP and (JPMorgan-advised) I Squared Capital.
Shareholder register in focus
The speculation also puts oOh!media’s shareholder register under greater scrutiny.
A Form 603 lodged yesterday showed TAL Dai-ichi Life Australia, Daiichi Life Group and related entities disclosed a deemed 6.20% relevant interest in oOh!media.
The interest arises through their voting power in Challenger, rather than a fresh direct acquisition of oOh!media shares.
Taylor’s independent case
The takeover pressure comes as new CEO James Taylor works to strengthen oOh!media’s independent value case.
Taylor outlined $12 million in annualised pre-tax cash savings from FY27, including $10 million from the company’s Operational Excellence program and $2 million from exiting reo, its in-retailer media business.
The program also includes an 82-role reduction in headcount – 9% of the workforce.
“While we note some advertiser uncertainty given the broader macro environment, we are pleased with our overall outlook and look forward to updating shareholders at this morning’s AGM,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he is confident further efficiencies will be identified.
Five months into the CEO role, Taylor said he is more convinced than ever about the quality of the oOh!media business and the size of the opportunity ahead.
Taylor framed the strategy around three pillars: network, operating model and customers.
The aim is to manage oOh!media’s 30,000 assets as a more connected network, improve back-end systems, make the business easier for advertisers to buy from, and extract more value from the cost base.
Why Oaktree matters
Oaktree is best known as a distressed-debt investor, but it has a history in the media sector.
Oaktree sold its 45% stake in New Zealand radio operator MediaWorks to Quadrant Private Equity’s QMS in 2025, and was one of two distressed debt investors that took control of Nine Entertainment in 2012 through a debt-for-equity swap.
oOh!media wants an independent future
Asked about Nine’s $850 acquisition of rival QMS and the potential for revenue synergies at the AGM, Faure said oOh!media still believes out-of-home businesses perform best when they stand alone.
“If you look historically at the performance of out-of-home companies, standalone or as part of broader media groups, it’s fairly clear that the ones that stand alone perform better,” Faure said.
“So we welcome the fact that Nine understood the value of out-of-home and wants to add that to what it’s doing, but we would prefer to remain an independent operator.”