ACON Investments and MidOcean Partners Announce Merger of Fairway Outdoor Advertising and Olympus Media

ACON Investments and MidOcean Partners have merged their respective portfolio companies, Fairway Outdoor Advertising LLC and Olympus Media LLC, to form Fairway Media Group LLC. The combined company has more than 21,300 bulletin and poster displays in 17 states across the Southeast and Midwest. Fairway Media is now the fourth largest traditional outdoor advertising company in the US. The company will be headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina in the current headquarters of Fairway. Mark Moyer, the current Chief Executive Officer of Fairway Outdoor, will be the Chief Executive Officer of Fairway Media.

“We believe this transaction will drive tremendous growth and value” said Ken Brotman a Founding Partner of ACON. “The combined company will have the increased scale and market presence to continue growing and investing in new technologies, but more importantly, to continue providing customers with a cost-effective advertising medium for them to bolster and improve their bottom line as the economy continues to recover.”

Tyler Zachem, Managing Director at MidOcean said, “We are excited about merging Olympus with Fairway Outdoor to create a truly unique asset within the outdoor advertising industry. We believe there are numerous opportunities to continue to grow Fairway Media both organically and through acquisition, in both existing and new markets.”

Mark Moyer, Fairway Media’s Chief Executive Officer added, “Fairway Outdoor is excited about combining with Olympus to more fully exploit the growth opportunities available in the outdoor advertising industry including digital technology, new measurement systems, tuck-in acquisitions and other future growth opportunities. Building on the success that both Fairway Outdoor and Olympus have achieved to date, we believe this combination represents an excellent opportunity for the employees, customers, shareholders, local communities and other key stakeholders in Fairway Media.”

Hogan Lovells LLP served as legal advisor to ACON. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to MidOcean.