QMS officially becomes biggest out-of-home operator in New Zealand
Lower Albert Street, Auckland
QMS NZ has completed its takeover of the Auckland Transport out-of-home street furniture network from Ooh Media, who lost the contract in July.
The new, long-term agreement took effect on Thursday, and QMS announced on Monday morning the network was “officially live” in a media release, saying the “successful handover … cements its new position as the largest out-of-home operator across New Zealand.”
The new deal includes Auckland Transport’s street furniture network of 2,000 advertising panels; and the continuation of its existing contract for Auckland Transport’s transit assets on buses, trains and ferries — including the soon-to-be opened City Rail Link stations — and its billboard portfolio.
This follows the QMS acquisition of 100% of Oaktree Capital Management’s stake in Mediaworks in June this year. This month, the company started transitioning Mediaworks’ out-of-home operations into the QMS brand, leaving all its radio properties under the Mediaworks name.
QMS NZ director, Adam Trevena, said in the media release that the “transition process has been exceptionally smooth”, noting: “This moment is not just about taking over assets; it’s the beginning a new era of innovation, growth and public utility for [out-of-home] in Auckland.”
Auckland Transport’s head of out of home media and partnerships, Simon Soulsby, said: “We look forward to the opportunities this brings advertisers, and the revenue returns that Aucklanders will benefit from.”
Previous contract-holders Ooh Media told its shareholders in mid-July that had “planned for this eventuality” and claimed the street furniture contract represented just 4% of its FY24 reported revenue.
In its financials for the first half of calendar year 2025, Ooh Media reported a $30m hit from the Auckland loss, with a $25m impairment in goodwill, and a $5m impairment to “identifiable intangible assets.”
It reported an ongoing cost reduction of between $6-7 million annually in its New Zealand operations, with a one-off restructuring cost of $1 million in the second half of this year.
Interestingly, outgoing CEO Cathy O’Connor said Ooh Media stretched itself as far as fiscally responsible in an attempt to keep the “high-margin contract”, but were still outbid — suggesting QMS may have overpaid in its bid to secure the contract.
