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City of Sydney opens out of home advertising tender

The long awaited City of Sydney outdoor advertising contract is finally up for grabs, with JCDecaux to fight for the contract for the first time in 20 years.

According to the tender on the City of Sydney website, the council has reached out for expressions of interest on street furniture and out of home media services as well as free public wifi services.

JCDecaux entered the Australian market in 1997, winning the tender ahead of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and since then has had the rights for all street furniture including bus stops and telephone booths across Sydney’s CBD, Inner West and South Sydney.

JC Decaux has held the contract since 1997

The deal, which is set to expire in 2018, was initially a joint venture with Manboom, backed by media moguls Kerry Packer and John Singleton and property developer Robert Whyte.

But JCDecaux quickly bought Manboom’s share ahead of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

Twenty years on, JCDecaux has expanded across Australia, with contracts across Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and almost 7000 Australian assets.

Most recently, the company nabbed Melbourne Yarra Trams’ advertising tender, which was split between APN Outdoor and Adshel.

However, the City of Sydney tender is inarguably its biggest contract and one of the biggest in the Australian out of home advertising market. Mumbrella understands losing it would have a significant impact on its local revenue.

The tender, which appeared on the site today

JCDecaux chairman and co-CEO Jean-Francois Decaux told Mumbrella during his recent Australian visit that acquisitions were not on the agenda “for the time being”, as the company looked to pin down the City of Sydney contract.

But he is adamant the company has a strong future in Australia, especially given the new Yarra Trams contract and the expanded Telstra contract, which will give JC Decaux a national footprint.

In Sydney, JCDecaux’s inventory includes 210 standard board network panels, 210 premium Citylights network panels.

Mumbrella understands Adshel, Ooh Media and APN Outdoor are all highly interested in the tender.

CBS, which recently acquired Network Ten locally, has its own out of home business based in the United States and Canada known as Outfront Media however it is unclear whether they will be competing locally for the contract.

Expressions of interest close on February 6, 2018.

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