JC Decaux and News Corp end talks over outdoor sale

JC Decaux and News Corporation have ended discussions about the possibility of the outdoor company buying News Outdoor Group, the outdoor advertising company owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The companies blame the breakdown in discussions on economic and capital market conditions, which they say made it “increasingly difficult to conclude strategic partnerships on this scale”.

On September 11 JC Decaux announced that it had entered into discussions with News Outdoor Group, which is based in Russia. The company said at the time that the proposed deal would involve cash and shares and would result in a combination of certain assets of JC Decaux and News Outdoor Group. It is understood that News Corp was seeking a deal worth up to $1bn (£569m).

The News Corp subsidiary also has operations in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Israel, Poland, Romania and Ukraine, across south-east Asia and it has businesses in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.