Clear Channel Starts Selling Off Europe Businesses To Focus On U.S. DOOH Segments

May 31, 2023 by Dave Haynes

OOH media giant Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. has sold its Italian and Spanish subsidiaries to French rival JCDecaux in a cash deal worth about $80 million USD.

US-based Clear Channel is easing its way out of the EU market, putting a priority on domestic business and airports.

“The sale of our businesses in Italy and Spain is another important step forward toward our goal of optimizing our portfolio in the best interests of our shareholders,” says Scott Wells, CEO of Clear Channel Outdoor. “Together with the previous sale of our Swiss business, we will have generated approximately $175 million in total gross proceeds, while exiting three lower-margin and/or lower-priority European markets. The Board continues its review of strategic alternatives for our other European businesses, and we remain focused on executing our strategic priorities in our America and Airports segments.”

The Italy deal closed today, while the Spain won’t likely close until 2024, pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions.

Clear Channel says it “has hedged the anticipated proceeds from the sale of its business in Spain to mitigate the risks related to foreign currency fluctuations.”

There can be no assurance that the strategic reviews of our other European businesses will result in any additional transactions or particular outcomes. The Company has not set a timetable for completion of these processes and may suspend these processes at any time.

The overall deal is valued at almost 10X EBITDA when tied to 2022 revenue performance and 7X if tied to April 2022 through March of this year.

San Antonio-based Clear Channel has been under pressure from an activist investor – Legion Partners Asset Management – that owns about five per cent of the media firm. The company’s share price performance has been suboptimal, Legion argues, and Europe sales come in at lower margins than the US media segments.