Ocean Outdoor bought in £35m deal
Ocean Outdoor has stressed that it retains its independence following a management buyout backed by LDC Capital, part of the Lloyds Banking Group, who purchased the agency from Smedvig Capital for £35m.
The move means Ocean Outdoor can consolidate its position in large format outdoor digital and banner ads.
Tim Bleakley, Ocean's CEO, commented: "The whole team is very proud of everything that we have achieved and continue to achieve at Ocean. We have all enjoyed greatly working closely with Smedvig Capital. Their experience, analytical rigour and constant support has been invaluable to Ocean's successful development."
Daniel Sasaki, Managing Director of LDC London, said: “The Ocean team, led by Tom Goddard and Tim Bleakley, presented a compelling story of what has been achieved to date, together with their exciting plans for the future. This includes further expansion of its Premium location footprint, as well as pushing for a more central role as cross media digital audiences converge.”
Tom Goddard, Ocean’s Chairman said: “Securing the backing of LDC is a strong endorsement of the Ocean brand and team all of whom will be going forward with the business, led by our excellent CEO, Tim Bleakley. There is an important role for Ocean to continue leading this key market sector and as such I believe this news will be welcomed across the whole media industry.”
Johnny Hewett, Chief Executive of Smedvig Capital, commented: "We are of course very pleased with the financial outturn of the Ocean investment making nearly 4x invested capital in four years. More than that, it has been a great privilege to work with Tom, Tim and the whole of the Ocean team who have done an outstanding job in creating a clear leader in their targeted space. We look forward to watching them continue to thrive."