Talon Outdoor secures investment from Equistone to support global growth and accelerate investment into technology, as Mayfair exits

Talon Outdoor (“Talon” or “the company”), a leading, independently-owned global Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising agency, today announces that it has secured investment from Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone”), one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity investors. Mayfair Equity Partners (“Mayfair”), a dedicated consumer and technology investor with over £1 billion in assets under management, will fully exit Talon, with management retaining a meaningful stake as part of this transaction. The financial terms of the deal are undisclosed and completion remains subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2012, Talon has delivered on its vision of providing smarter, creative, technology-led and integrated OOH solutions. The company offers the largest global OOH planning and buying network, covering 100 markets internationally, while its award-winning campaigns and proprietary advertising technology platforms - Ada, Atlas and Plato - deliver expertise at global, national and regional levels. Marquee customers include blue-chip advertisers Apple, Diageo, McDonald’s and PepsiCo and leading agencies Omnicom, Havas and Stagwell. 

Since Mayfair’s investment in 2017, Talon has grown its team to over 200 employees across London, New York, Nashville, Frankfurt, Singapore, Dubai and Dublin. With Mayfair’s support the company completed four strategic acquisitions, strengthened its management team by hiring a new Chairman, CEO, CFO and CTO and significantly expanded its presence in North America. 

Equistone’s investment will provide Talon with both the expertise and capital to continue its global expansion through further M&A and investment in new territories. The deal extends Equistone’s longstanding track record of investing in marketing services businesses, having invested in global marketing agency adm Group last October and realised its majority stake in global marketing technology and services provider Inspired Thinking Group in March.

Barry Cupples, CEO at Talon Group, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Equistone and excited to be working closely with the team to support Talon’s next phase of growth. Now in our tenth year, Talon is established as a market leading OOH agency and we thank Mayfair for being a huge part of this journey. We are particularly excited for the opportunities the new Equistone partnership will create for Talon’s clients across the globe.”

Paul Harper, Partner at Equistone, said: “We have been hugely impressed by the management team’s wealth of sector experience, strong track record and clear ambition to further scale the business, and we are excited to work with Barry and his team to accelerate the investment into talent and technology on a global basis. OOH media has remained a robust and attractive broadcast media for brands to communicate with customers, with the market continuing to digitise and invest in programmatic solutions."

“Talon has crafted a special place in the market by focusing on delivering smarter, creative, technology-led, and integrated OOH communications,” commented Daniel Sasaki, Managing Partner at Mayfair Equity Partners. “Barry and the whole Talon team have delivered exceptional growth over the last five years, underpinned by a clear vision of continuous innovation and exceptional customer service. It has been a pleasure to be their partner, providing specialist support to achieve their digital transformation and U.S. growth ambitions.”

Paul Harper, Chris Candfield and Tristan Manuel led the investment on behalf of Equistone. Equistone was advised by Raymond James, Travers Smith, KPMG, OC&C and PWC. 

Mayfair and Talon were advised by GP Bullhound, Goodwin Procter, RSM and PWC. 

Management was advised by Highstead Partners and CMS.