Standard Outdoor Acquires Vista Outdoor

Insider learned that Standard Outdoor and its parent company, Standard Diversified Opportunities Inc., has announced another asset acquisition, Vista Outdoor Corporation based in St. Mary’s GA.

The purchase includes 86 billboard structures located in Florida and Georgia and represents Standard Outdoor’s entry into Florida and Georgia, an expansion from its current market presence in Alabama and Texas. The billboards are a mix of both digital and static faces, with the majority located along the I-95 corridor in northern Florida / southern Georgia.

This acquisition by Standard Outdoor, led by its President, Mike Morrill, is their second in 2018 and brings the Company’s total number of faces to 384. The other acquisition was Alabama based Quality Outdoor in January of this year.

Standard Outdoor is another example of a newer entrant into the Outdoor marketplace led by a well funded holding company.  Insider caught up with the President of Standard Outdoor, Mike Morrill.

Mike Morrill

Why was Vista Outdoor the right acquisition for Standard Outdoor?

I have been coveting this plant for some 20 years during my annual visits to Amelia Island. It is a well maintained, high quality operation with a dominant market position and a very solid lease portfolio.

It looks like the first acquisition made by Standard Outdoor was your Metro Outdoor in Austin TX. Will Austin be Standard’s base of operations?

Yes, Standard did acquire a handful of locations from me in central Texas last year. Austin will be our Outdoor operation headquarters.

Do you see yourselves as a regional player or will there be potential acquisitions outside of the Southeast?

We will continue to evaluate and pursue high quality assets throughout the country. I think it is really just a coincidence that our last two deals were in the southeast although I did start my career in the Outdoor business with Adams Outdoor of Atlanta in 1989.

How committed is your parent company, Standard Diversified Opportunities, to continuing to grow the Outdoor business?

Standard Diversified Opportunities is excited about the many opportunities that we have in the Outdoor space and have committed to our strategy of growth through acquisition, development and digital conversion. In fact, I am so confident in their commitment that I took their publicly traded common stock as part of the consideration in the Metro transaction.

Insider’s Take – The interest of new investors into the Outdoor space will continue to heat up a very active acquisitions market.

If there is any doubt, Link Media parent, Boston Omaha, just announced this week that they will be selling up to $150,000,000 of unregistered Class A Common Stock . The Company expects to use the proceeds of the stock sale for further acquisition of businesses to be owned by its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Link Media Outdoor and General Indemnity Group.

 

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