NEW
YORK, June 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OUTFRONT
Media Inc. (NYSE: OUT) and Bell Media Inc., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), announced today that they
have closed the sale of OUTFRONT Media's Canadian business to Bell
Media for a purchase price of C$410
million in cash, subject to certain purchase price
adjustments.
Jeremy Male, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of OUTFRONT Media, said: "The sale of our
Canadian business illustrates the inherent value of our out-of-home
assets, and will enable us to proactively reduce our financial
leverage and also focus entirely on operating what is now a fully
domestic business here in the United
States."
Sean Cohan, President of Bell
Media, said: "This acquisition marks a significant milestone for
Bell Media and solidifies our leadership position in the
out-of-home space. Our now expanded national inventory of both
digital and out-of-home assets will drive even better,
industry-leading results for our advertising partners."
About OUTFRONT Media Inc.
OUTFRONT leverages the power
of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with
consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and
most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in
North America. Through its
technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways
advertisers engage audiences on-the-go.
About Bell Media
Bell Media is Canada's leading media and entertainment
company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio,
out-of-home advertising, and digital. This includes Canada's most-watched television network, CTV;
the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium
add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels;
the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada's cross-platform sports leaders, TSN
and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec's
fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the
country's leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original
productions, brands, and services. As a content leader and partner
in Sphere Media, Montréal's Grande Studios, and Dome Productions,
one of North America's leading
production facilities providers, Bell Media is committed to keeping
Canadians entertained and informed.
Bell Media also offers best-in-class technology, marketing, and
analytics support through Bell Marketing Platform, an omnichannel
self-serve platform which includes Bell Analytics, Strategic
Audience Management (SAM), and Bell DSP, in addition to advanced
advertising solutions, including Linear Addressable TV, Addressable
Audio, and ads on Crave. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE:
BCE), Canada's largest
communications company. 1 Learn more at
BellMedia.ca.
1 Based on total revenue and total combined customer
connections.
Contacts:
OUTFRONT Media
Inc.
|
Bell
Canada
|
|
|
Investors
|
Investors
|
Stephan
Bisson
|
Thane
Fotopoulos
|
Investor
Relations
|
Investor
Relations
|
(212)
297-6573
|
(514)
870-4619
|
stephan.bisson@OUTFRONT.com
|
thane.fotopoulos@bell.ca
|
Media
|
Media
|
Courtney
Richards
|
Kaitlynn
Jong
|
Communications &
Event Manager
|
Manager, Digital and
Strategic Communications
|
(646)
876-9404
|
(647)
456-7487
|
courtney.richards@OUTFRONT.com
|
Kaitlynn.jong@bellmedia.ca
|
OUTFRONT Media's Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
We have made statements in this
document that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking
statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"will," or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words
or phrases that are predictions of or indicate future events or
trends and that do not relate solely to historical matters. You can
also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of
strategy, plans or intentions related to our capital resources,
portfolio performance and results of operations. Forward-looking
statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and you should
not rely on them as predictions of future events. Forward-looking
statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be
incorrect or imprecise and may not be able to be realized. We do
not guarantee that the transactions and events described will
happen as described (or that they will happen at all). The
following factors, among others, could cause actual results and
future events to differ materially from those set forth or
contemplated in the forward-looking statements: declines in
advertising and general economic conditions; the severity and
duration of pandemics, and the impact on our business, financial
condition and results of operations; competition; government
regulation; our ability to operate our digital display platform;
losses and costs resulting from recalls and product liability,
warranty and intellectual property claims; our ability to obtain
and renew key municipal contracts on favorable terms; taxes, fees
and registration requirements; decreased government compensation
for the removal of lawful billboards; content-based restrictions on
outdoor advertising; seasonal variations; acquisitions and other
strategic transactions that we may pursue could have a negative
effect on our results of operations; dependence on our management
team and other key employees; diverse risks in our Canadian
business, including risks related to the sale of our Canadian
business; experiencing a cybersecurity incident; changes in
regulations and consumer concerns regarding privacy, information
security and data, or any failure or perceived failure to comply
with these regulations or our internal policies; asset impairment
charges for our long-lived assets and goodwill; environmental,
health and safety laws and regulations; expectations relating to
environmental, social and governance considerations; our
substantial indebtedness; restrictions in the agreements governing
our indebtedness; incurrence of additional debt; interest rate risk
exposure from our variable-rate indebtedness; our ability to
generate cash to service our indebtedness; cash available for
distributions; hedging transactions; the ability of our board of
directors to cause us to issue additional shares of stock without
common stockholder approval; certain provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third
party to acquire control of us; our rights and the rights of our
stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are
limited; our failure to remain qualified to be taxed as a real
estate investment trust ("REIT"); REIT distribution requirements;
availability of external sources of capital; we may face other tax
liabilities even if we remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT;
complying with REIT requirements may cause us to liquidate
investments or forgo otherwise attractive investments or business
opportunities; our ability to contribute certain contracts to a
taxable REIT subsidiary ("TRS"); our planned use of TRSs may cause
us to fail to remain qualified to be taxed as a REIT; REIT
ownership limits; complying with REIT requirements may limit our
ability to hedge effectively; failure to meet the REIT income tests
as a result of receiving non-qualifying income; the Internal
Revenue Service may deem the gains from sales of our outdoor
advertising assets to be subject to a 100% prohibited transaction
tax; establishing operating partnerships as part of our REIT
structure; and other factors described in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including but not
limited to the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2023, filed with the SEC on February
22, 2024. All forward-looking statements in this document
apply as of the date of this document or as of the date they were
made and, except as required by applicable law, we disclaim any
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors,
of new information, data or methods, future events or other
changes.
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SOURCE OUTFRONT Media Inc.