T-Mobile Expands Advertising Operations Through $600 Million Acquisition of Vistar Media
T-Mobile Acquires Vistar Media for $600 Million, Bolstering Digital Out-of-Home Advertising
T-Mobile, the telecommunications giant, has announced its acquisition of Vistar Media, a leading provider of digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertisement solutions, for approximately $600 million in cash. The deal, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.
Allen & Co. is serving as T-Mobile's financial adviser on the transaction, while Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton serves as T-Mobile's legal counsel. Canaccord Genuity advised Vistar Media on the transaction, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP is serving as Vistar Media's legal counsel.
The acquisition includes Vistar's intelligent marketplace and technology solutions for buying, selling, and managing media campaigns across a global network of over 1.1 million digital screens. This move is part of T-Mobile's strategy to expand its advertising business and tap into the growing digital out-of-home advertising market.
JP Colaco, senior vice president and chief T-Ads officer at T-Mobile, sees a tremendous opportunity to provide more relevant and personalized advertising. He believes that the combination of Vistar's end-to-end ad-tech platform and T-Mobile's unique customer insights and data will transform the DOOH business in various ways.
Michael Provenzano, CEO and co-founder of Vistar Media, is excited about joining T-Mobile. He cites T-Mobile's understanding of the power and potential of out-of-home advertising as a key factor in the decision. Provenzano believes that T-Mobile's customer-centric approach and expertise as a nationally scaled marketer will enable advertisers to easily place their ads where their audience will be.
The deal serves over 3,000 brand partner advertisers and is expected to improve every step of the customer journey, enhancing the consumer experience with more meaningful and engaging content.
Growing Out-of-Home Advertising Market
The forecasted Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) ad spending in the U.S. for 2025 is $4.40 billion. This reflects a robust growth trajectory within the digital portion of out-of-home advertising. The broader Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertising market is larger, with Q1 2025 OOH revenue alone reaching $1.98 billion (a 2% year-over-year increase), indicating strong ongoing growth of the overall OOH industry.
The acquisition demonstrates T-Mobile's belief in the future of out-of-home advertising. eMarketer forecasts that DOOH ad spending in 2025 will account for over one-third of the nearly $10 billion spent on OOH advertising in the U.S. Global OOH ad spending is expected to hit $49.8 billion in 2025, with the U.S. as a key contributor to this market.
| Metric | Estimated Spending (2025, U.S.) | |-----------------------------|-------------------------------| | Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) | $4.40 billion | | Overall Out-Of-Home (OOH) | Estimated > $7 billion (based on Q1 data and trends) |
This shows strong growth in both segments with DOOH being a rapidly expanding part of the overall OOH advertising market. Nearly 370 OOH media owners provide the digital screens for the network.
In conclusion, T-Mobile's acquisition of Vistar Media is a strategic move to tap into the growing digital out-of-home advertising market. The deal is expected to improve customer experience, enhance advertiser reach, and contribute to the growth of the overall out-of-home advertising industry.
References: [1] eMarketer, Digital Out-of-Home Ad Spending in the U.S. Expected to Reach $4.40 Billion in 2025 [2] Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Global OOH Ad Spending to Reach $49.8 Billion in 2025 [3] Out of Home Advertising Association of America, Q1 2025 OOH Revenue Hits $1.98 Billion
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