Russ Group buys outdoor advertising operator Vostok-Media

The Moscow region outdoor advertising operator Vostok-Media will soon become part of the Russ Group of Companies, Kommersant has learned. The transaction amount is “unlikely to exceed 2–3 billion rubles,” analysts say. A month ago, Russ bought another core player in the region, VinEx. New assets acquired in the last two years will allow the group to consolidate 80% of the market in the Moscow region, occupying the same share as in the capital itself.

Russ Group is close to closing the deal to purchase the Moscow region operator Vostok-Media, Kommersant sources in the outdoor advertising market claim. On March 30, Vostok-Media LLC announced changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, including to the constituent documents. According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, Russ will become the official beneficiary of the company within two months. Since March 1, Russ Group has owned another outdoor advertising operator in the region – VinEx, as follows from SPARK-Interfax data. Russ Group declined to comment; Vostok-Media did not respond to Kommersant.

Russ announced back in December 2023 that it was taking over the inventory of Vostok-Media and VinEx, notes Andrey Baiduzhiy, director of the outdoor advertising booking service All-billboards: “The company quite often uses this scheme before purchasing.” The Vostok-Media network of advertising media includes more than 8.5 thousand surfaces of various formats, including bus stop pavilions. The organization’s presentation clarifies that outdoor advertising in the Moscow region is “noticeably more accessible” than in the capital itself, “with comparable effectiveness.”

The cost of the Vostok-Media transaction, Mr. Baiduzhiy believes, “is unlikely to exceed 2–3 billion rubles.” “In Europe, outdoor advertising operators are usually valued at 6–9 EBITDA, in the USA – at 10–11, but in the Russian Federation, due to extremely unstable legislative regulation of the industry, these multipliers do not work,” explains the expert.

Vostok-Media is now considered the fourth largest outdoor advertising operator in the Russian Federation by revenue, market participants say. The company owns the largest network of advertising surfaces in the Moscow region, its share in this market is close to 50%, clarifies Andrey Baiduzhiy.

Volna LLC won for 1 billion rubles in 2020. an exclusive contract for the installation of structures in New Moscow, the expert adds. In particular, Volna received for ten years the right to install 197 billboards with approximately 500 surfaces in the TiNAO (Troitsky and Novomoskovsky districts), Butovo and on a number of highways adjacent to Moscow (see “Kommersant” dated April 10, 2020). Then a representative of the Moscow Department of Media and Advertising clarified that these are the most expensive areas for accommodation, close to the capital.

After purchasing Vostok-Media, VinEx, North Star Media (October 2022) and Black Board (February 2023), as well as Igronik inventory (in 2022, Stinn LLC received 100% of Lighting Engineering Company LLC) Russ’s share in the Moscow region, according to Mr. Baiduzhia’s estimates, will be approximately the same as in Moscow, exceeding 80%.

Yulia Yurasova