JC Decaux float hit by stock market jitters

JC Decaux’s public offering on the Paris stock exchange is off to a shaky start.

The global outdoor advertising company has been forced to cut the anticipated share price from between 21 to 25.5 (&£13 to &£16), to between 16.5 to 19.5 (&£10 to &£12) a share.

The company also postponed the float date from Monday to tomorrow (Thursday).

The move follows deepening problems in the media sector, which has been suffering from the downturn in advertising spend.

However, JC Decaux was still determined to push ahead with the float, which has already been postponed once before.

The French company originally decided not to go ahead with the offering, after the market first showed signs of weakening. It is thought that Decaux has been forced to go ahead with the float because it needs to fund acquisitions.

The company’s chief executive Jean-Francois Decaux says: “Given recent developments in the markets, and in particular the media sector, it had become increasingly difficult to achieve a successful transaction in the initial indicative price range.”

JC Decaux is also hoping to break into the Chinese market. The company picked up a contract for outdoor advertising in Macao. With a population of 450,000, Macao has a similar status to Hong Kong, as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China.