SMG's attempts to sell outdoor advertising subsidiary Primesight were likely to have been undermined by a backlog of billboard sites awaiting planning permission.
While the management said it postponed the sale because it felt the price was being driven down by perceptions that it was a forced seller, planning permission is said to have contributed to the lack of trade buyers willing to pay a suitable price. According to one insider, it could have made a GBP10 million difference to any offer.
Sources suggest that the best offer on the table was one to the tune of about GBP60m, believed to be from a private equity firm. This was far short of SMG's original GBP90m top-end estimate of Primesight's worth and so the decision to postpone the sale was taken. …
The Herald; August 21, 2006
Daily Mail (London); October 21, 2006
Daily Mail (London); August 19, 2006
Daily Mail (London); December 12, 2006
The Sunday Herald; August 27, 2006
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