Bell Media has unveiled an agreement to purchase the Canadian outdoor advertising operations of American company Outfront Media for $410 million in cash.

The deal, expected to be finalized in 2024, will see New York-based Outfront Media, formerly CBS Outdoor, sell its Canadian billboard business to strengthen its U.S. operations. “The sale of our Canadian operations highlights the value of our assets and will provide us with additional financial flexibility as we focus on our U.S. operations,” said Jeremy Male, President and CEO of Outfront Media, in a press release Monday.

Outfront Media had approximately 9,325 screens in Canada, including digital and physical billboards, buses, benches and other outdoor advertising platforms, by the end of 2022. In 2013, Bell Media, based in Toronto, acquired rival Astral Media, which included an outdoor advertising business to compete with Outfront Media’s presence in Canada.

Today, Canada’s outdoor advertising landscape is consolidating as local linear television networks, including Bell Media’s CTV brand, come under pressure as advertising dollars increasingly flow online.

Stewart Johnston, senior vice-president of sales and sports at Bell Media, added that the company’s outdoor advertising business has become an increasingly important means of mass advertising for the Canadian media giant, given of its expanded targeting capacity.

“Outfront’s broad range of Canadian assets reinforces Astral’s commitment to providing effective multi-channel marketing solutions while accelerating Bell Media’s digital strategy. The synergy between Outfront’s proven expertise and our commitment to driving innovation will provide clients with enormous opportunities across a true coast-to-coast footprint,” added Johnston.