The industry is saying that the transaction closed this week between Trailhead Media and Horton Outdoor was one of the largest Out of Home transaction of 2021. Insider reached out to the key players, Robert MacMillan, CEO of Trailhead Media, and Josh McWhorter, CEO of McWhorter Capital Partners, to get their insights on the deal.
Robert, how does this acquisition fill in what looks like a very strong group of assets in Georgia?
Trailhead Media has very strong state wide coverage in Georgia. This acquisition further strengthens this position by adding a significant number of new assets in the key Atlanta DMA. We are very fortunate to have such deep coverage in Georgia and can offer large and small business a truly statewide OOH solution that no other media owner can. We are very excited by the new possibilities this acquisition opens up for the company, our existing clients and the clients we acquired from Horton Outdoor.
How many total digital faces does this now give Trailhead Media?
We are up to 176 digital faces.
Trailhead Media has accumulated a very strong footprint in the Southeast. No acquisitions yet outside of the Southeast. Do you see the Company expanding into other portions of the United States?
We tend to be geography agnostic and more opportunity focused. It just so happens most of the early opportunities that we liked were in the Southeast. If the right opportunity came up elsewhere and met our underwriting criteria we would likely be active.
Josh, you mentioned that Horton Outdoor started as a tribute to Eric Horton. Can you say a few words about Eric?
Eric was a big man with a bigger personality. When he used to come in the office, everyone knew it. He just had a love for life. He was the one who initially pushed me to get into the outdoor space. I reluctantly agreed, but couldn’t be happier we did. I know he would be proud of what was built, but more than the disposition itself – I think everyone in the office fell in love with the space. There’s just something about seeing the imprint with your company name!
Do you retain any Out of Home assets after this transaction?
From a technical perspective, there’s a few scattered assets we retained from steel to permits, but that will be Trailhead’s as well. We’re working through the minutiae of the transfer and will take care of those at its conclusion.
Any future plans reenter the Out of Home business?
As far as getting back into the space, I love the OOH industry. I agreed to a non-compete which my company & I will fully honor. At the present, my main priority is to ensure Trailhead Media has everything needed to be successful with the inventory acquired. I truly want them to do well. At the end of the day, we’re talking about pieces of steel in the ground, but that steel was put there or acquired with a lot of sweat and love. One of the things we can do is lend in this space. Once we get done with the transfer, we’ll talk about what that could look like and if we want to pursue it.
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