Paris, 21-06-2007 – JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris : DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and the number two worldwide, announced today its move into Kazakhstan through the purchase of 50% of the shares of RTS Perekrestok.
First established in 1998, RTS Perekrestok operates 730 bus shelters in 14 Kazakh cities, most of them in Almaty, the main city, and in Astana, the capital, making it the leader in street furniture advertising in Kazakhstan.
RTS Perekrestok, renamed RTS Decaux, will enable JCDecaux to develop further in the Kazakh outdoor advertising market, notably in Almaty and Astana, the main Kazakh cities.
Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux said: "Following our successful launch in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), JCDecaux is now entering Kazakhstan, one of the fastest-growing markets in Central Asia. Cities such as Almaty and Astana are already implementing urban regeneration plans and therefore the timing is right to introduce our street furniture with our partner RTS. Both in Russia and Central Asia, the outdoor market is growing by double digits."
Nurlan Kapparov, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Lancaster Group said: “In our opinion, establishing a joint venture with JCDecaux, the world leader in the street furniture and outdoor advertising markets, is an additional evidence of the improvement of the investment climate in the country. It also confirms rising interest to Kazakhstan from the leading multinational companies. Introducing world class technologies to the Kazakh market will enable our cities to look much better in the near future. It will also contribute to the process of having Kazakhstan join the community of the world’s 50 most developed nations.”
Key Figures for the Group:
- 2006 revenues: €1,946.4 million ; Q1 revenues: €473.1 million
- JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of the Euronext Paris stock exchange, and is part of the
Euronext 100 and FTSE4Good indices
- N°1 worldwide in street furniture (334,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 worldwide in airport advertising with 141 airports and around 300 transport contracts in metros, buses, tramways and trains (213,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 in Europe for billboards (216,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in China (83,000 advertising panels in 21 different cities)
- N°1 worldwide in self service bicycles
- 763,000 advertising panels in 48 countries
- Present in 3,500 cities with over 10,000 inhabitants
- 8,100 employees
