By Roushni Nair Jan 30 (Reuters) – Australia's Nine Entertainment on Friday accelerated its shift toward digital media, announcing an A$850 million ($597.7 million) deal for outdoor advertiser QMS Media and an exit from broadcast radio, sending its shares higher. Nine shares rose as much as 5.5% to A$1.14 by 1203 GMT, their biggest one-day gain since September 12, outpacing a 0.5% rise in the broader market and ranking among the top performers on the benchmark. The Quadrant Private Equity deal advances Nine's push to lift digital assets to over 60% of revenue by fiscal 2027 from about 45% in 2025, as legacy media pivot toward online ad spending. "The QMS price sits within a reasonable range versus recent Australian media deals and looks sensible against listed outdoor advertising peers," said Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Markets Australia. "More importantly, the jump in Nine's share price suggests investors are backing the shift in earnings mix and the strategic reset, rather than just the assets on the page." Nine, publisher of The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age, and owner of the Nine Network, said it will sell its broadcast radio arm, including Sydney's 2GB and Melbourne's 3AW, to the Laundy Family Office for A$56 million. Billionaire pub baron Arthur Laundy, whose family controls Australia’s largest privately owned hotel group, has emerged as an unlikely buyer despite having no prior media assets. The radio sale marks Nine's second major asset exit in about a year, following its August divestment of a 60% stake in property listings platform Domain to U.S. real estate group CoStar. QMS has been one of Australia's faster‑growing outdoor advertising players, with about 95% of its local revenue now coming from digital formats, and was taken private by Quadrant in a A$420.6 million deal in 2019. Nine said the combined transactions would unlock about A$217 million in cash proceeds and tax benefits. ($1 = 1.4221 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona, Leroy Leo and Rashmi Aich)
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