Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG / IPO

21.06.2010 08:01

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DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
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Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG plans IPO

- One of the leading providers of out-of-home advertising in Europe
prepares listing on Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the
second half of 2010
- Placement of new shares planned from a capital increase of approx. EUR
275 million
- Part of the proceeds of the IPO earmarked for strategic acquisitions:
increase of stake in Turkish joint venture Ströer Kentvizyon and
acquisition of News Outdoor Poland
- On completion of the acquisition in Poland, Ströer expects to become
out-of-home advertiser number one in the Polish market in terms of sales,
in addition to Germany and Turkey
- Further IPO proceeds serve to reinforce organic growth by means of
product innovations and an optimized capital structure
- Positive business trend in first quarter of 2010 confirms successful
business model and justifies optimism for the current year

Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG ('Ströer'), one of the leading providers of
outdoor advertising in Europe, headquartered in Cologne, is preparing its
IPO. The company plans to have its shares listed on the regulated market
(Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the second half of
2010. J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley have been mandated as joint
bookrunners. New shares are planned to be placed from a capital increase
with a volume of approx. EUR 275 million. The shareholders of Ströer Udo
Müller (co-founder and CEO) and Dirk Ströer (member of the Supervisory
Board and son of co-founder Heinz Ströer) will not be selling any shares in
the course of the IPO.

Part of the proceeds generated by the IPO is to be used for the realization
of strategic investments. This includes the increase of the stake in the
Turkish joint venture Ströer Kentvizyon from 50 to 90 percent and the
acquisition of the Polish out-of-home advertising company News Outdoor
Poland which is being reviewed by the local cartel authority in Poland. A
further share of net proceeds is planned to be used for investments in
organic growth of Ströer and for concrete product innovations in the field
of digital outdoor advertising. In addition, the company intends to use the
proceeds generated to reduce its net debt level, to optimize the capital
structure and increase financial flexibility.

After the Ströer Group succeeded in keeping its operating result nearly
stable in 2009 despite very difficult economic conditions, the level of
sales revenue and earnings growth in the first quarter of 2010 confirms the
upward trend in the outdoor advertising industry. 'The entire out-of-home
market faces exciting changes. Being one of the leading out-of-home
advertisers in Europe, we plan to proactively drive this process. With the
biggest market share in Germany and with strong positions in the high
growth markets of Turkey and Poland, we are ideally prepared in this
respect. The IPO will enable us to continue and expedite our successful
growth story,' says Udo Müller, co-founder and CEO of Ströer.

Increasing importance of out-of-home advertising
According to a current surveys conducted by the media group
ZenithOptimedia, spending on out-of-home advertising has increased
substantially in Germany in the past ten years. According to Nielsen Media
Research, the category of posters developed best of all advertising media
last year, thus increasing its relative market share. Ströer assumes that
this trend will continue. 'In our view, the share of the total advertising
market accounted for out-of-home advertising will continue to grow
substantially,' explains Udo Müller. In the assessment of Ströer, this
trend is also confirmed by the Frühjahrsmonitor (spring monitor) of the
media agency organization OMG. According to the media experts surveyed, the
poster category, alongside the Internet and TV, will benefit stronger this
year from the increasing advertising investments than other advertising
media.

Compared to other advertising media, the level of growth in out-of-home
advertising is driven above all by demographic trends, such as increasing
mobility of the population and urbanization. These trends are causing
successful advertising campaigns to increasingly rely on innovative forms
of advertising beyond conventional media such as newspapers or TV. 'Driven
by digitalization and the fragmentation of advertising consumers associated
with this, it will be increasingly difficult to achieve great reach for
content-based advertising. In contrast, the benefit of outside advertising
is apparent: It quickly delivers large pictures and reaches a mass public.
Last, but not least, out-of-home media also benefits from the fact that
people are spending more time out and about,' says Udo Müller. In order for
out-of-home advertisers to benefit from these trends they need to be able
to offer their advertising clients nationwide campaigns from a single
source. Due to the combination of public and private advertising areas and
the contract with Deutsche Bahn AG, Ströer today has the largest
advertising network in Germany, reaching attractive target groups. In
addition, with its wide product portfolio the Ströer Group enables its
clients to combine a large number of different advertising media along the
entire mobility chain in the course of implementing their advertising
campaigns.

Ströer with strong positions in attractive markets
Measured in terms of sales revenues, Ströer is one of the leading providers
of out-of-home advertising in Europe. In its core markets of Germany,
Turkey and Poland, the company provides its clients with extensive networks
for nationwide advertising campaigns. In Germany, the largest advertising
market in Europe, the Ströer Group generates the highest market share in
out-of-home advertising in terms of sales revenues. With its joint venture
partner Akademi Reklam, the company is also the largest out-of-home
advertiser in terms of sales revenues in the high growth market of Turkey.
Through its acquisition of News Outdoor Poland, the fourth-largest
out-of-home advertising company in Poland with some 3,300 advertising
faces, Ströer is also ascending to the top position in the Polish outdoor
advertising market in terms of sales revenues according to own estimates.
In addition, via its blowUP media subsidiary, Ströer operates what it
regards to be the largest network of giant posters in Europe.

Ströer will also actively participate in the consolidation of the
fragmented European outdoor advertising market in the future. In doing so,
the company will specifically focus on attractive markets which offer the
opportunity to gain a leading competitive position. In Turkey and Poland,
Ströer wants to benefit from expected economic and population growth as
well as the associated increase in overall advertising expenditures.
Increasing its stake in the Turkish joint venture from 50 to 90 percent is
expected to open up new possibilities for Ströer to press ahead with market
consolidation. According to Ströer, it will be the only out-of-home
advertiser able to offer nationwide campaigns following the completion of
the acquisition of News Outdoor Poland. At the same time, Ströer will
strengthen its already leading position in the rapidly growing segment of
large poster formats through the acquisition.

Ströer as a driver of digitalization
Ströer expects that the trend towards the digitalization of advertising
media will also increase the significance of out-of-home media.
'Digitalization is revolutionizing the media market. In the future we will
be seeing additional digital advertising media at central hubs such as
train stations. These can, for instance, display varying advertising
content depending on time, day of the week or weather. At the same time,
the introduction of moving pictures is making outdoor advertising more
attractive. The time to market is virtually reduced to zero,' says Udo
Müller. Through targeted investments in product innovations, Ströer plans
to assume a pioneering role in the digitalization of advertising spaces and
thus additionally accelerate its own growth. Since its founding 20 years
ago, the innovative power of the Ströer Group has allowed it to
continuously succeed in setting new courses on the European outdoor
advertising market.

Good start by Ströer in 2010 confirms upward trend 
Given the signs of an upturn on the European advertising market, Ströer
looks to the future with confidence. The company achieved sales revenues of
EUR 105.1 million in the first quarter of 2010. This represents an increase
of 5.6 percent over the first quarter of last year (Q1 2009: EUR 99.5
million). Operational EBITDA (earnings before interests, taxes,
depreciation, and amortization) rose by 11.3 percent to EUR 16.7 million
(Q1 2009: EUR 15.0 million). In Germany, sales recorded growth of 4.7
percent over the same period last year, rising to EUR 87.0 million (Q1
2009: EUR 83.1 million). Sales in Turkey showed particularly strong growth,
increasing by 25 percent over the first quarter to EUR 9.0 million (Q1
2009: EUR 7.2 million). 'Thanks to our stable business model we have
excellently mastered the crisis of last year. We now want to again focus on
further growth again. The strong first quarter of 2010 confirms our
optimism,' says Alfried Bührdel, CFO of Ströer. In the 2009 financial year,
the Ströer Group achieved comparably stabile sales revenues of EUR 469.8
million (2008: EUR 493.4 million) in one of the most economically difficult
years in the post-war period and an operational EBITDA adjusted for one-off
factors of EUR 100.0 million (2008: EUR 100.0 million). Through various
cost-cutting measures, the company was able to increase its operational
EBITDA margin from 20.3 to 21.3 percent in the 2009 financial year. The
company's sales thus developed significantly better than European net
advertising spending, which fell by 13.8 percent according to a study by
ZenithOptimedia.

Successful track record in the consolidation of the German outdoor
advertising market
Together with Heinz Ströer, Udo Müller founded Ströer City Marketing GmbH
in 1990, laying the foundation for today's Ströer Group. At the beginning
of 2004, Ströer took over DSM Deutsche Städte Medien GmbH thus becoming the
largest company in the German out-of-home advertising market in terms of
sales revenues. The acquisition of Infoscreen Gesellschaft für
Stadtinformationsanlagen GmbH at the end of 2004 enabled Ströer to further
expand its competence in digital advertising media. In 2005, Ströer
ventured into the field of advertising in train stations with the
acquisition of present-day Ströer DERG Media GmbH (formerly Deutsche
Eisenbahn Reklame GmbH). Today, Ströer is run by a growth-oriented
management team with many years of expertise in the media sector. The
Managing Board comprises Udo Müller (CEO), Alfried Bührdel (CFO) and Dirk
Wiedenmann, who is responsible for the company's German business.

_______________________________________

About Ströer 
Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG is a specialist for all forms of outdoor
advertising - from conventional posters to advertising on shelters and
means of transport advertising to digital and interactive media. The
company markets over 280,000 advertising spaces and is one of the leading
out-of-home advertisers in Europe: In terms of sales revenue, Ströer is the
leader in its core markets of Germany, Turkey and Poland following the
acquisition of News Outdoor Poland. In these markets the company provides
its clients with extensive networks for nationwide advertising campaigns.
The Ströer Group has some 1,400 employees at 69 locations. The company's
portfolio comprises over 150 different outdoor advertising products. In
terms of advertising media and street furniture, the company values top
quality, innovation and superior design. With its products, Ströer sets new
standards of design of public spaces. Ströer street furniture has already
received 26 international awards. More information about the company is
available at www.stroeer.com
_______________________________________

Disclaimer
This press release does not constitute an offer of securities sale in the
United States of America, Canada, Australia, Japan or other jurisdictions
in which offers are subject to legal restrictions. The securities referred
to in this press release may not be sold or offered for sale in the United
States of America under the regulations of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933,
as amended, absent registration or an exemption from registration. Subject
to certain exemptions in accordance with the Securities Act, the securities
referred to in this announcement may not be sold or offered for sale in
Australia, Canada or Japan or to or for the account of Australian, Canadian
or Japanese persons. No registration of the offer or sale of the securities
referred to in this announcement in accordance with the respective legal
requirements in Canada, Australia and Japan takes place. No public offer of
securities is made in the United States of America.
This press release is for promotional purposes only and does not constitute
a prospectus. Interested investors should make their investment decision
regarding the securities referred to in this announcement exclusively on
the basis of information from a securities prospectus related to the offer
of these securities published by the company and approved by the
Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin). Following
publication the securities prospectus will be available for free from
Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG (Ströer Allee 1, 50999 Cologne, Germany) or
from the www.stroeer.com website.
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current
expectations and assumptions by the management of Ströer Out-of-Home Media
AG. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may result in the profit situation,
profitability, performance or the profit of Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG
deviating substantially from the profit situation, profitability,
performance or the profit expressly or implicitly assumed or described in
these forward-looking statements. In view of these risks, uncertainties and
other factors, the recipient of these documents should not inappropriately
rely on these forward-looking statements. Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG
assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements or to make
them conform to future events and developments.


Press contact:
Ms Petra Kaiser
Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG
Corporate Communication
Ströer Allee 1 | D-50999 Cologne
Telephone +49 (0)2236 - 96 45-246
Fax +49 (0)2236 - 96 45-6246
E-Mail: pkaiser@stroeer.de





21.06.2010 Ad hoc announcement, Financial News and Media Release distributed by DGAP.
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