WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Department of Justice today approved Lamar Advertising Company's $22.5 million acquisition of Vivid Inc. after the companies agreed Vivid would retain certain billboards in Walworth County, Wisconsin and Winnebago County, Illinois. The deal as originally proposed required Vivid to sell to Lamar all of its billboard operations throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

According to the Department, the original proposal would have lead to a loss of competition between Vivid and Lamar for the sale of outdoor advertising in the two counties, particularly for local businesses. Without the divestiture local businesses in the those areas would have been left with fewer choices for their billboard advertising needs.

"The divestiture protects the smaller, locally based advertiser consumer, for whom billboards are often an important form of media communication," said Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division.

Lamar, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, operates outdoor advertising assets in thirty-eight states. Its out-of-home advertising operations include poster, bulletin and logo-sign advertising. In 1998, Lamar had annual sales of approximately $335 million.

Vivid is headquartered in Janesville, Wisconsin. It operates billboard assets in three states and in 1998 posted about $5 million in revenue.