The Wall Street Journal writes this morning that the biggest banks in the US are making far fewer loans to small businesses than they did a decade ago. The Journal reports that the 10 largest US banks held $44 billion in small business loans (loans less than $1 million) in […]
Billboard Loans Blog
Max Drachman of Kalil and Co on Outdoor Values
Max Drachman is an outdoor industry investment banker with Kalil and Co. I talked with Max this week about the outdoor advertising acquisitions market. 1. Paul Wright of Signvalue told me recently that outdoor values are hovering around 5.25 times net revenue and 10.5 times cashflow this year. Is this […]
Billboard Company Values September 2015
Public outdoor valuations declined during the third quarter of 2015, in line with a general drop in the stop market. The three public outdoor companies have an enterprise value of 3.9 times revenue and 12.1 times cashflow (EBIDTA) at September 2015. Clear Channel sells at the lowest multiple due to […]
What Are Billboard Easements Worth?
Here’s a recent post I put up at www.billboardinsider.com about valuing billboard easements. I get asked what what billboard easements are worth all the time. I’m used to seeing a value of 6-10 times cashflow for billboard easements. 6 times cashflow for fast or distressed sales. 8-10 times cashflow for […]
Five Reasons A Billboard Company Should Be Cautious When Dealing With Landmark
Landmark Infrastructure is seeking to purchase easements under billboard sites. I’ve seen several Landmark easement transactions and have been hearing the outdoor company landlords are being approached by Landmark. Remember the proverb about having a long spoon when you sup with the devil? Here are five reasons to be careful […]
What’s a safe level of debt for an outdoor company?
Lenders will advance up to 6.0 times cashflow (earnings before interest depreciation and amortization) to outdoor advertising companies. I think a safe level of debt for most outdoor companies is about 2.0 times gross revenue or 4.0 times cash-flow. This level is safe because it gives your company the financial […]
Billboard Loan and Lease Repayment Terms
Billboard loan and lease repayment terms vary from 3 to 20 years. 3-7 years is normal for lease financing and digital sign financing. The most advantageous leasing tax treatment occurs only if a lease has a term of less than 75% of an asset’s life. That means a lease of […]
New Billboard Insider website is launched.
Today marks the launch of Billboard Insider (www.billboardinsider.com) a website devoted to news and analysis of the billboard and digital sign business. The online magazine will fill the void in outdoor industry specific news and analysis caused by the demise of Outdoor Magazine and Out of Home Advertising. Billboard Insider […]
Badly Maintained Billboards Are Bad Business
We are our own worst enemy when we don’t take care of our billboards. Here’s a recent letter to the editor of the Trumbull Times in Connecticut. “To the Editor: I’m writing to complain about a terrible blight issue right here in the Long Hill section of Trumbull. I am […]
High Resolution Digital Billboards Becoming More Popular
A couple weeks ago a digital sign sales executive told me that high resolution 16 mil digital billboards are outselling lower resolution 20 mil digital billboards by a ratio of 8:1. I’ve asked digital sign sales people why and they’ve told me that costs have fallen to the point where […]
