Grupa Outdoor feels slump, looks towards merger
Grupa Outdoor, a leader in outdoor advertising, is considering finding a
strategic investor or merging with another company from the sector. The main
shareholder, Outdoor Ankündigund Geselschäft (OAG) of Austria, feels u
ncomfortable with last year's loss of zl. 5.5 million so they seem to have
decided to change strategy. Lech Kaczon, president of Grupa Outdoor, said
that the Austrian investor would not totally abandon the Polish market. For
now, OAG holds up to 90% of shares in companies owned by Grupa Outdoor.
Other outdoor advertising companies such as AMS, Clear Channel, Europlakat
Polska and the Ströer group also made loses last year. This coincided with a
general crisis in the sector. Expenditures on outdoor advertising fell by
10% compared to 2000. The four biggest companies announced that this year
they would close 10,000 billboards and fix a minimum price for this medium.
(Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 5; Rzeczpospolita, pp. B1, B3) A.D.
