JCDecaux

Jean-Claude Decaux (1937–2016) first created a company in 1955 that specialised in outdoor advertising alongside motorways. However, as these billboards were heavily taxed by law, Jean-Claude Decaux turned towards a business model in 1964 that was based on city billboards and invented the concept of advertising street furniture – well-maintained bus shelters fully funded by advertisers.

In 1999, the group acquired Havas Media Communication and Avenir. This acquisition allowed the group to expand into the large-format advertising market and advertising in airports. In 2001, JCDecaux entered the Euronext Stock Exchange with an opening share price of €16.50. In 2002, Jean-Claude Decaux passed the management of the company on to two of his three sons, Jean-Charles Decaux and Jean-François Decaux, who then became co-CEOs of the company.

In 2011, JCDecaux acquired French kiosk business MediaKiosk.

In January 2022, JCDecaux reported its 2021 revenue as $3.06 billion, an increase of 18.7%, which was perceived as an indication that the out-of-home market had recovered from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions of the previous years.

Helsinki Finns Party campaign

During the 2021 Finnish municipal elections, a campaign in Helsinki public transport run by JCDecaux on the behalf of the Finns Party was accused of racism and spreading inflammatory messages by suggesting that immigrants are preferred to the native Finns in the allocation of municipally owned rental housing in Helsinki. Consequently, JCDecaux and Helsinki City Transport have decided to cancel the campaign. This in turn was criticized by the Finns Party, including by its chairman Jussi Halla-aho, however, the party's request for a formal police investigation was denied.

Pro-Russian ads in Norway

During the early campaign before the 2025 Norwegian parliamentary election, the company was criticized for running an advertisement campaign on the Oslo Metro echoing Russian disinformation techniques and opposing Norwegian military aid to Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The campaign was ostensibly funded by a newly established pro-Russian party Peace and Justice (FOR). However, the party neither reported donations anywhere near the required amount nor disclosed its funding sources, leading to strong suspicions of foreign interference and possible Russian financing. As a result, the Political Parties Act Committee launched an investigation into the campaign. JCDecaux's Norway head, Gisle Holst Roness, declined to disclose how much the company was paid. The campaign also drew sharp criticism from Oslo Sporveiers Arbeiderforening (OSA), the city's largest transport union, which denounced the ads as “populist, divisive and irresponsible,” stating that such messages “pollute the urban environment” and “undermine fundamental values such as international solidarity and the fight for peace and democracy.” The campaign was aborted after the party has accused the operator Sporveien, and consequently JCDecaux, of breach of contract due to the widespread vandalism aimed at the anti-Ukraine posters.