Clear Channel Outdoor, Fairway Required To Divest Billboards On Asset Swap Deal

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will require Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. and Fairway Media Group, LLC to divest billboards in Atlanta and Indianapolis in order to proceed with their $150 million swap of outdoor advertising assets located in multiple U.S. markets.

The Justice Department's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the proposed transaction, and simultaneously filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the competitive harm alleged in the lawsuit.

The department said that without the required divestitures, advertisers who purchase outdoor advertising on billboards located in the Atlanta and Indianapolis metropolitan markets would likely face higher prices and lower quality services.

According to the department's complaint, Clear Channel and Fairway own and operate billboards in the Atlanta and Indianapolis metropolitan areas that are located in close proximity to each other and therefore constitute attractive competitive alternatives for advertisers seeking to reach consumers in these areas. The proposed swap transaction, in which Clear Channel would acquire Fairway billboards in Atlanta in exchange for Clear Channel billboards in Indianapolis and certain other areas, would eliminate substantial head-to-head competition between Clear Channel and Fairway for the business of local and national advertisers seeking to reach customers within the Atlanta and Indianapolis metropolitan markets, resulting in higher prices and lower quality services to these advertisers.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Clear Channel and Fairway must divest 13 billboard structures in Indianapolis to Circle City Outdoor, LLC, and 44 billboard structures in Atlanta to Link Media Georgia, LLC.