About JCDecaux

JCDecaux SA engages in the business of outdoor advertising in Europe. The company’s outdoor advertising consists of three principal types of activities that include advertising on billboards (Billboard), advertising on and in public transportation vehicles and stations (Transport), and advertising on street furniture (Street Furniture). Street Furniture The company designs products, such as bus shelters, free-standing information panels, automatic public toilets, larger format advertising panels, multi-service columns (such as the Morris columns in France), kiosks for flowers or newspapers, public trash bins, benches, citylight panels, public information panels, streetlights, street signage, bicycle racks and shelters, recycling bins for glass, batteries or paper, electronic message boards and interactive computer terminals; develops a coordinated range of street furniture; determines, according to the advertising potential, the amount of advertising space needed to finance a city's street furniture equipment needs; selects advertising locations and positions its products to maximize the impact of advertising; offers a mix of advertising and public service products. The company designs multi-functional street furniture (bus shelters and multi-service columns that integrate a public phone, an automatic public toilet or a point-of-sale transportation ticket vending machine) that blends in with the city landscape, and reduces street clutter. Street furniture contracts require it to supply products, which contain advertising space, such as bus shelters, free-standing information panels, and columns; and may also require it to supply and install non-advertising products, such as benches, public trash bins, electronic message boards or street signage. Billboard The company’s billboard offering includes a range of products, with general coverage packages offering advertisers a true ‘mass media’ audience covering a geographic area, and more specific packages that offer contact with an audience having certain demographic or socio-economic characteristics. The neon sign advertising business is located principally in France, but it is also developing this business in other countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, and Belgium. The company’s billboards appear prominently near the principal commuter routes of cities and their suburbs and permit advertisers to reach audience. Its billboard networks are situated in various locations in terms of visibility in major cities, such as Paris, London, Brussels, Vienna, Madrid, and Lisbon; and offer advertisers territorial coverage in each country. The company’s billboard activities also include illuminated advertising, consisting essentially of the creation and installation of large-format neon signs. It also offers wall wrap advertising. It operates in 17 countries, with 148 neon signs, the company covers the major European capitals and in Asia, as well as Central Europe. As of December 31, 2004, the company had 196,500 advertising faces in 25 European countries (in approximately 3,000 European cities) and 4 Asia-Pacific countries (Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia). As of the same date, it had approximately 51,300 large format billboard faces in France. As of December 31, 2004, the company had installed approximately 3,800 Vitrines in France, approximately 250 in the United Kingdom and approximately 700 spread over 9 other European markets, mainly in Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal. In the United Kingdom, the company has developed a billboard technology called Chameleon, which makes it possible to put up two different displays, night and day, on a single back-lit structure Sales: The company markets its billboard network under the Avenir trademark in France and Spain, under the JCDecaux trademark in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and various other European countries, under the Gewista trademark in Austria, under the Europlakat trademark in Central Europe, under the Belgoposter trademark in Belgium, and under the IGPDecaux trademark in Italy. JCDecaux One Stop Shop, a subsidiary that specializes in the coordination of advertising campaigns internationally, has undertaken pan-European advertising campaigns for prestigious advertisers like Alcatel, Levi's, Gap, H&M and Mitsubishi, as well as Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, the Greek National Tourist Office and Fox Films. TRANSPORT The company’s Transport advertising business includes the world's airport advertising business, as well as advertising contracts in metros, trains, buses, trams, other mass transit systems, and express train terminals serving international airports around the world. In addition to the 155 advertising contracts, the company holds in airports, it also has the right to sell advertising space in approximately 150 metros, trains, buses and tramway systems in approximately 250 cities in Europe, South America, and Asia-Pacific. The company has contracts in Italy, which allows it to offer advertisers a national network for advertising in buses. Altogether, the company manages close to 157,000 advertising faces in transport systems throughout 20 countries, with approximately 25,000 faces in airports. The company’s products include a range of advertising structures of various formats, as well as presentation stands and advertising faces mounted on trolleys. These panels are placed where passengers tend to congregate, such as at check-in areas, passenger lounges, gate areas, passenger corridors, and baggage carousel areas. It also builds custom-made advertising structures for its advertisers, such as oversized models of their products, which has an impact on incoming and outgoing road traffic. Sales: The company sells advertising packages for individual airports, as well as packages that allow international advertisers to display their advertisements in multiple airports around the world. It has advertising contracts with the metros of Hong Kong, Santiago in Chile, Bilbao, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Vienna, Prague, and Oslo, and hold advertising contracts for the Eurostar in London and for the Eurotunnel on both sides of the Channel, as well as the express train lines serving Oslo and Heathrow airports. It also holds the advertising contract for the Hong Kong metro for the five urban lines of the Mass Transit Railway system and the airport express. Significant Events JCDecaux SA has launched a division called StreetTalk to handle the advertising on BT phone boxes. The company entered into a series of agreements with German partner Wall AG, under which the two companies create a 50-50 joint venture to sell advertising space in major German cities. Joint Venture JCDecaux SA has moved into the Ukrainian and Russian markets through a joint venture with the outdoor advertising company BigBoard Group SA. It would be known as BigBoard BV. It would be 60% owned by the BigBoard Group SA and 40% owned by JCDecaux. Customers The company’s major advertisers include Unilever, PSA, France Telecom, LVMH, The Walt Disney Company, Vodafone Group, L'Oreal, Nestle, Renault-Nissan and Hennes & Mauritz. Competition The company faces competition from local competitors, in Billboard, include France: Metrobus (Transport); United Kingdom: Maiden (Billboard), Primesight (Billboard), and Van Wagner (Billboard); Belgium: Belgian Poster (Billboard) and Business Panel (Billboard); Germany: Stroer/DSM (Billboard and Street Furniture), AWK (Billboard), Degesta (Street Furniture), and DERG (advertising in train stations and Billboard); Austria: EPA (merger of Aussenwerbung/Ankünder and Heimatwerbung) (Billboard), and Ankunder Steiermark (Street Furniture); Spain: Cemusa (Street Furniture); United States: Lamar Advertising Company (Billboard), Interspace (Airport advertising), Regency (Billboard), Adams Outdoor (largeformat Billboard), Van Wagner (Billboard and telephone booths), and Tri-State/PNE Media (Billboard); Canada: Pattison Outdoor (Street Furniture, Billboard, and Transport), Astral Media (Street Furniture, Billboard); Australia: APN (Transport) acting especially for Buspak (Transport), and Adshel (Street Furniture), Cody & Australian Posters (Billboard), and Eye Corporation; and Russia: News Outdoor (Street Furniture, Billboard, and Transport). History JCDecaux SA was founded in 1964.