Paris, 15 September 2009 – JCDecaux S.A. (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and Asia-Pacific and the number two worldwide, announced today that it has become the majority shareholder of the Berlin based outdoor advertising company Wall AG. With the purchase of the shares formerly held by the company’s founder Hans Wall JCDecaux increased its holding in Wall AG to 90.1%. Daniel Wall, currently holding 9.9% in Wall AG, will continue to be the Chief Executive Officer. The transaction requires the regulatory approval of the German competition authority.
In 2008 Wall reported total revenues of € 114.7 million with nearly 62.000 high quality advertising panels, 85% of which are located in Germany. Wall AG is the number two outdoor advertising company in this country as well as in Turkey, with long term advertising contracts in cities such as Berlin, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Muenster and Istanbul.
Commenting on the transaction Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux S.A., said: “The acquisition of the majority interest in Wall AG by JCDecaux is a logical step to consolidate the fragmented German outdoor advertising market. Wall’s cities in Germany are very complementary to JCDecaux and this transaction paves the way to create a high quality national outdoor advertising network in Europe’s largest media market. In addition we are entering the attractive fast growing Turkish market, reinforcing our unique positioning in emerging countries.”