GMT is focused on media and telecoms deals in Europe, and has previously invested in two Spanish outdoor media companies, Redext and Equipamientos Urbanos.
Primesight's senior management team, including chief executive Naren Patel, will remain on board after the deal.
SMG claims the deal justifies its decision to abort an earlier auction of Primesight in April on the grounds its own financial weakness led bidders to put in low offers. It had expected £90m for the business, but it is believed that offers were coming in at around £60m.
Four months later, it has done a deal that will bring in a £52m now and up to £10m in future, albeit in a much different financial climate. Private equity buyers are finding it more difficult to borrow money to fund deals on the valuations common earlier in the year.
Rob Woodward, chief executive of SMG, said: "This is a good price for the business and clearly ahead of where we were in the previous sale process.
"This is a strong example of the new board delivering on its promises. The proceeds of the sale will strengthen SMG's balance sheet while freeing the management team to concentrate on the turnaround of the television business and the disposal of our other non-core businesses."
SMG will receive £52m in cash upfront, helping to reduce its debt from £157.3m to £109.8m, after transaction costs and tax. It will book a profit of £3m on the sale for the year ending December 31 2007.
GMT will also pay SMG £5m in five years time or when it comes to sell Primesight, and another £5m on the same terms but conditional on Primesight meeting agreed 2007 profit targets.
SMG also gave an update on current trading. It revealed the new-media strategy undertaken by the previous management "was not delivering", and its e-commerce revenue will be £3m less than expected.
Its TV business, cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean, and Virgin Radio, are trading in line with its expectations.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
