News

JCDecaux mulling bid for CBS Outdoor

March 9, 2011

According to The Wall Street Journal, JCDecaux SA, the world's largest seller of outdoor advertising, said Wednesday that it's mulling a bid for U.S. competitor CBS Outdoor.

"The chief executive officer of CBS Corp. said several times that outdoor advertising isn't part of their core business anymore. We're a natural buyer," co-Chief Executive Jean-François Decaux told reporters after presenting the company's earnings, according to the WSJ.

JCDecaux and CBS aren't in active discussions about the potential acquisition of the U.S. company. CBS is the world's third-largest outdoor advertising company, with sales of $1.82 billion in this business in 2010, compared with $2.8 billion for Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings and $3.12 billion for JCDecaux, which became the sector's biggest player by revenue last year.

Decaux also made it clear that he thinks his firm's "time will come in the U.S."