Wildstone enters Sydney with key Cremorne billboard buy

Wildstone has entered the New South Wales outdoor advertising market, buying a digital out-of-home billboard site in Cremorne on Sydney's Lower North Shore.

The purchase is its first asset in Sydney, widely regarded as Australia's most competitive out-of-home advertising market. The Cremorne deal is also Wildstone's largest single-site acquisition in Australia so far.

The screen is a portrait-format digital spectacular measuring 4 metres by 8.1 metres. It sits on Military Road, a major arterial route carrying commuter traffic between the Lower North Shore and the Sydney CBD. Cremorne is one of the area's more affluent suburbs, and the site is a recognised out-of-home advertising location.

Wildstone owns outdoor advertising infrastructure rather than running advertising campaigns. Media operators typically manage the sale of advertising space on their structures.

In Australia, oOh!media will act as the media operator for the Cremorne site. The companies already work together on other panels in Wildstone's local portfolio.

oOh!media now handles media sales for almost 25% of Wildstone's Australian panels. It is Australia's largest out-of-home operator.

Australian footprint

The Cremorne acquisition takes Wildstone's Australian estate to 75 assets. The company has expanded quickly since entering the local market in May 2024.

Most of that activity has been in Victoria. Last year, Wildstone bought Total Outdoor Media's entire portfolio of 52 regional Victorian billboards, then acquired another six structures in metropolitan Melbourne from High Street Media.

Its move into New South Wales gives Wildstone a foothold in a market dominated by large operators and long-standing site owners. Sydney attracts a high share of national advertising spending and has some of the most tightly contested roadside and retail precinct locations.

Wildstone positions itself as a specialist owner of billboard assets, focused on acquiring sites and investing in upgrades. Its wider portfolio includes more than 5,700 out-of-home advertising assets across the UK, Europe and Australia, spanning classic billboards, large digital sites and other screen formats.

The company buys and rents property sites used for outdoor advertising and signs agreements with property owners who have suitable land or building façades in high-traffic areas.

Operator ties

The Cremorne purchase adds another site where Wildstone will rely on a media operator for ad sales, scheduling, and relationships with brands and agencies. In Australia, operators such as oOh!media, JCDecaux and QMS Media typically control large networks across roadside billboards, street furniture, and assets in shopping centres, airports and transport hubs.

Wildstone works with operators by offering new locations and funding for digitisation. Digitisation has been a major theme in the sector as spend shifts towards screens that can run multiple campaigns and change creatives quickly.

Noel Cook, Managing Director of Wildstone Australia, described the Sydney entry as a significant step in the company's local expansion.

"We're excited to have expanded even further into Australia's thriving OOH market and especially to have done so in such a landmark location in Sydney," Cook said. "We have many more deals in the pipeline and expect our number of assets to increase significantly this year."

Robbie Dery, Chief Commercial Operating Officer at oOh!media, said the panel's position on a busy commuter corridor makes it attractive to advertisers seeking large-format visibility.

"The Cremorne site is highly sought after by advertisers wishing to take advantage of its high visibility along a key commuter corridor. We're delighted to partner with Wildstone to operate this premium Sydney site," Dery said.

Wildstone expects further acquisitions this year as it continues to build its Australian portfolio and to extend partnerships with media operators in major metro and regional markets.