Many private equity funds and family offices are interested in out of home to judge from the calls Insider gets. Professional investors like the out of home industry’s barriers to entry (permits are hard to get) and low technology risk (tech hasn’t made out of home passe like other forms of media). Insider has assembled a list of eighteen firms and equity funds which have invested in out of home. The list runs the gamut from Warren Buffet’s nephew to Google.
| Company or Fund | Out of Home Investment |
| Acon | Investor in Magic Outdoor which was merged with Fairway Outdoor in 2004. Exited Fairway Outdoor by sale in 2009. |
| Bain | Current owner of iHeartMedia, Inc., which owns Clear Channel Outdoor. Losing control to lenders. |
| Boston Omaha | Public Company parent of Link Media, which owns billboard assets in the Southeast US and Wisconsin |
| Boulderado Group | Equity fund run by Alex Buffet Rozek. Owns a portion of Boston Omaha, which in turns owns outdoor company Link Media |
| Flexis Capital | New York Equity fund which has invested in Total Outdoor, which owns a plant in Chicago, Seattle, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Minneapolis. |
| GTCR | Equity fund which partnered with Adams Outdoor to acquire Fairway Media Group in 2015 |
| Hellman & Friedman | Partnered with Karl Eller to aquire Eller Media in 1995 and sold company to Clear Channel Communications in 1997. |
| Magnolia Capital Fund, LP. | Equity Fund controlled by Adam Peterson that owns a large stake in Boston Omaha which owns Link Media |
| McWhorter Capital | Georgia holding company with interests in real estate and Horton Outdoor |
| Msouth | Most investments located in south. Invested in Roswell GA based Signal Outdoor which operates transit and street furniture plant along east coast. |
| Seaport Capital | Owns bMedia, a Puerto Rico out of home company which recently bought Lam’s Puerto Rican billboards |
| Shamrock Capital | Los Angeles equity fund which invested in US and Canadian out of home operator Branded Cities. |
| Sidwalk Labs, a Subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc. | Alphabet is the holding company for Google. Sidewalk invested in Intersection Media which is providing ad-supported Wifi kiosks across New York City |
| Standard Diversified | Public company which owns Standard Outdoor. |
| SunTX Partners | Texas equity fund which focuses on sunbelt companies. Investor in Dallas-headquartered Big Outdoor/Radiant Outdoor |
| Thomas Lee Partners | Current Owner of iHeartMedia, Inc. which owns Clear Channel Outdoor. Losing control to lenders. |
| Tinicum | Invested in Ashby Street Outdoor in 2011. Also invested in Skyway Towers which is attempting to lease billboard space to telecom providers. |
| Welch Carson | Healthcare/Tech investor which invested in Titan Outdoor which was merged with Control Group to form Intersection |
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