National CineMedia has agreed to acquire Captivate Holdings, a leading provider of digital video advertising screens in lifts and building lobbies, from private equity firm Generation Partners for $275 million. The deal marks a major expansion for NCM, which has traditionally focused on cinema advertising, pushing it into office and residential properties and positioning it as a significant player in premium video and digital out-of-home advertising more broadly.

Once combined, the two companies will operate more than 48,000 screens across theatres, offices and apartment buildings in 185 designated market areas, including all of the top 100 in North America. Captivate alone runs over 26,000 digital screens across more than 11,000 buildings in the US and Canada. The announcement came alongside NCM's second-quarter results, which showed net losses narrowing to $9.9 million from $10.7 million and revenue up 13% to $58.4 million, though the company's shares fell 16% in late trading to $3.20.