Affichage: JC Decaux wants to revise voting right restrictions
The 5% restriction on voting rights at Geneva-based outdoor advertising group Affichage is to be revised. This is what the Board of Directors wants.
However, there is no question of a takeover by the French global market leader JC Decaux. As the Chairman of Affichage, Jean-Francois Decaux, said in an interview with the newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft on Saturday, a proposal for a change should be submitted to the next General Meeting at the latest. Together with his brother, Decaux manages JC Decaux, now the largest company for outdoor advertising. According to SDA, this company has held 30 percent of the shares for over ten years
to Affichage, but can only vote with 5 percent due to the transfer restriction.
As the newspaper Le Temps quoted Jean-Francois Decaux as saying on Saturday, it is high time to exploit the potential synergies between Affichage and JC Decaux. A takeover bid to the other shareholders, which would be due if one third of the shares were exceeded, is not being sought. Decaux confirmed this to Le Temps with the words: "I have been accused of this intention for years. To make the situation clear once and for all: JC Decaux will not make a public takeover bid for Affichage".
On the other hand, the number of board members is to be increased from five to seven after the Board of Directors has steered the company through a crisis. The Chairman of Affichage was confirmed in office at the Annual General Meeting on Friday, along with other members of the Board of Directors, despite counter-proposals due to the mess surrounding the expansion in Greece. All opposing candidates put forward by a dissatisfied group of shareholders failed.
Affichage: Board of Directors re-elected despite countermotion
