Decaux To Take Civil Action Against More Group

French outdoor advertiser JC Decaux is set to sue rival UK outdoor advertiser, More Group, for £1 million. This development comes just days before the Office of Fair Trading is to announce its review of the proposed £475 million takeover of More by Decaux (see OFT To Consider Decaux/More Merger Further).

The legal action stems from the distribution of a document, by an employee at More’s French subsidiary, of information which allegedly presented Decaux’s business in an unfavourable light. The document was apparently forged as it appeared on the headed paper of media buying group, Carat, without that group’s permission.

A spokesperson for Decaux said that the More employee in France would almost certainly not have acted out of individual interest, and surmised that the initiative for the document had therefore come from above. The spokesperson went on to say that whilst the distribution of a forged document is a criminal offence under French law, the company had decided to take civil (rather than criminal) action under the remit of anti-competitive behaviour.

More’s chief executive Roger Parry issued a statement this afternoon denouncing Decaux for indulging in “a series of publicity stunts” perpetrated in order to “disrupt the smooth running of our [More’s] business and to influence the outcome of the contested take-over in the favour of JC Decaux.”

Parry goes on to say that More will not be making any more comments on Decaux’s activities or on the takeover until after the OFT publishes its decision and the the group has had any response from Clear Channel Communications. Clear Channel proposed a bid for More of £446 million in March, prior to the counter-bid by Decaux (see Surprise Takeover Of More Group For £446m).

The spokesperson for Decaux said that he did not believe that this legal action would effect the proposed merger of the two groups. It was not a ‘core issue’, he said.

JC Decaux: 0171 746 1000 More Group: 0171 287 6100