UK. Regional airport advertising specialist Airport Partners has acquired Eye UK from its Australian owner, Ten Network Holdings.
The sale of Eye Corp’s UK division was anticipated following the parent group’s sale to private equity-backed oOH!media in November, and will create what the companies claim is the UK’s biggest airport advertising company.
Airport Partners CEO Andrew Walker said that the two companies will operate mainly separately for the next six months before begin the merger process.
He said: “Eye has an excellent reputation, innovative, state of the art products and, importantly, a really great team. The combination of our two companies will create a distinctly different and commanding player within the airport advertising world.”
Alongside Walker, who will be CEO of both companies, there will be two senior directors of the merged entity: Managing Director Sarah Parkes, formerly Executive Vice President and General Manager of Eye UK, and Group Commercial Director Mike Brennan, formerly Regional Sales Director at CBS.
Eye UK was formed in 2006, and its portfolio now includes Manchester Airport Group (including Manchester, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports), London Gatwick, Stansted and Belfast International airports.
Airport Partners, also formed in 2006 by Walker, has a portfolio including more than 20 airports, including Bristol, Exeter, Inverness, Dundee, Liverpool, Southampton, Blackpool and City of Derry.
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