Ballantyne completes sale of Strong Outdoor to Firefly, increases investment
Ballantyne Strong announced that it has completed the sale of its Strong Outdoor out-of-home advertising business to Firefly Systems. Strong Outdoor commenced operations in early 2018 and built a digital out-of-home advertising business on over 3,000 New York City taxis. In May 2019, the company transferred its digital taxi-top assets to Firefly in a transaction that leveraged Firefly’s strength in digital and contributed to significant improvements in Strong Outdoor’s financial performance. The current transaction completes the sale of all of Strong Outdoor’s remaining taxi-top advertising business in exchange for equity in Firefly. Ballantyne Strong also increased its strategic investment in Firefly’s business, taking a larger shareholder position. “We are excited to increase our position in Firefly as they expand their digital advertising platform in major cities across the United States,” said Mark Roberson, CEO of Ballantyne Strong. “Strong Outdoor established itself as a significant player in the New York out of home advertising market and is a perfect addition to Firefly’s successful national rideshare and taxi-top advertising business. As a result of the transactions, Ballantyne will hold Firefly Series A-2 and Series A-3 preferred shares valued at approximately $13 million and expect to recognize a non-cash pretax gain of approximately $5 million in the third quarter. We look forward to participating in Firefly’s success as one of its largest venture investors as they leverage their increasing scale in the marketplace.”
Source: The Fly and photo from Firefly
