Wildstone signals aggressive growth plans in Australia’s OOH market

Outdoor infrastructure group Wildstone is preparing to make a significant play for the Australian market, with managing director Noel Cook confirming the business has “a big chequebook” and plans to accelerate the digitisation of billboard assets nationwide.

The company’s recent acquisition of Total Outdoor Media’s (TOM) entire regional billboard portfolio in Victoria marked its first major acquisition in the Australian market, but Cook made clear it was just the beginning.

“We’re here to support and grow the industry,” Cook told Marketing-Interactive. “Let’s just say we’ve got a big chequebook and we are ready to deploy funds in this market.”

Wildstone operates as an infrastructure fund for out-of-home advertising, acquiring and upgrading static billboard assets and leasing them back to media operators without competing in the media sales space. Its model, well established in the UK and Europe with more than 5,400 billboards under management, is now being rolled out in Australia.

Cook said the company has broader ambitions beyond Australia, including a possible expansion into New Zealand and select APAC markets over the next 18 months. But for now, the focus is firmly on scaling rapidly in Australia, with additional acquisitions expected in coming months.

Cook said the TOM acquisition underscores Wildstone’s strategy to increase investment in regional and metro markets and unlock new revenue streams through digitisation. A long-time advocate for the out-of-home industry, he said the move also aligns with a significant shift in the Australian outdoor market: the demand for digital advertising inventory and the ability to prove that out-of-home is a highly effective media channel.

The TOM brand is expected to be phased out in coming months, with several operators selected to sell its portfolio of sites. The first is regional outdoor specialist Gawk Outdoor, which has secured a long-term deal with Wildstone Australia to take over the bulk of the TOM's portfolio.

The move sees Gawk increase its portfolio to some 39 static and seven digital billboards across the state, pushing its regional Victorian market share to nearly 80%. Additional partners will be announced at a later date.

Luke Course, director of Gawk Outdoor, said the deal was a "cherry" on top of its regional Victorian coverage.

"TOM built some high-quality sites, and we couldn’t be more excited to add them to our arsenal. Huge congrats to Ged Hart and the TOM team, and to Wildstone on the acquisition.”

The digital growth path

While outdoor commands around 5% of total ad spend, digital accounts for 75% of that OOH revenue. In Australia, around 30% of outdoor inventory has been digitised and Cook said Wildstone’s strategy is to fund and accelerate this conversion at scale, helping operators upgrade without taking on the capital burden.

“Outdoor is now a very capital-intensive medium,” he said. “We’re allowing media operators to do what they do well - sell media space - while we fund the infrastructure.”

Cook believes the growth runway for Australian OOH is long and sustainable, citing PwC forecasts of 6-8% annual revenue growth over the next five years. He pointed to the increasing digitisation of roadside inventory, improved measurement and the growing role of programmatic trading as key factors driving market momentum.

“Programmatic is bringing new revenue into the market, not just substituting existing spend,” Cook said. “But that requires more digital screens in the ground.”

Expansion plans

While Cook would not confirm specifics, he said Wildstone is actively progressing a pipeline of new deals. “We’ve worked hard over the last 12 months to set up a strong foundation for growth. There are a number of acquisitions that will be announced in due course.”

He added that Wildstone’s model is deliberately “agnostic” with no plans to operate a media sales business or compete with local media operators. 

“Our goal is to support the industry’s growth through digitisation.”

As Australia’s OOH sector continues its shift toward digital, Cook is confident Wildstone’s approach will resonate.

“Outdoor is a real, tangible medium with a consistent audience,” he said. “It’s going to continue to grow and outpace other traditional media types - and we want to be at the heart of that growth.”