Lamar Advertising Company facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as |
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| Industry | Real estate investment trust, Advertising |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Founder | Charles W. Lamar |
| Headquarters | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
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Key people
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| Products | Outdoor Advertising |
| Revenue | US$1.57 billion |
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Number of employees
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3,300 |
Lamar Advertising Company is a business that specializes in outdoor advertising. This means they operate things like billboards, which are large signs you see along roads. They also manage logo signs and transit displays, which are ads on buses or at bus stops. The company works across the United States and Canada.
Charles W. Lamar and J.M. Coe started the company in 1902. Its main office is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lamar Advertising has more than 200 offices in the U.S. and Canada. They have over 363,000 advertising displays in total. In 2014, Lamar Advertising Company changed its business structure to become a real estate investment trust.
Contents
History of Lamar Advertising
How Lamar Advertising Started
Lamar Advertising Company began in 1902. It was founded by J.M. Coe and Charles W. Lamar. The company became fully independent in 1908. This happened in Pensacola, Florida. Charles W. Lamar, Sr. renamed it the Lamar Outdoor Advertising Company.
Becoming a Public Company
On August 2, 1996, Lamar Advertising Company started trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange. This means people could buy and sell shares of the company. Its stock symbol is LAMR.
Growing the Business
Lamar Advertising has grown by buying other companies. In October 2004, Lamar traded some of its advertising properties. They swapped assets in South Carolina and Georgia. In return, they gained properties in California and North Carolina.
Later in November 2004, Lamar bought Obie Media Corporation. This added outdoor displays in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It also gave them new contracts for transit advertising.
In January 2016, Lamar made a big purchase. They bought advertising rights in five major American cities. These rights came from Clear Channel Outdoor. The purchase cost $458.5 million.
