Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Focus Media

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Traded as
  
SZSE: 002027

Headquarters
  
Shanghai, China

Founded
  
2003

Industry
  
Advertising agency

Number of employees
  
3,548

Type
  
Public company

Focus Media chinascreennewscomwpcontentuploads201209l

Key people
  
Jason Jiang, ChairmanZhi Tan, CEOMingdong Wu, CFOCongrong Chen, COO

Products
  
advertising displays, internet and mobile phone advertisement

Revenue
  
$68.229 million USD (2005)

Operating income
  
$22.786 million USD (2005)

Subsidiaries
  
iResearch Consulting Group

Focus Media Information Technology formerly Focus Media Holding is a Chinese company which operates the largest out-of-home advertising network in that country, consisting predominantly of digital signage screens, and claims to own the country's largest Internet advertising agency.

Contents

History

The company was founded in 2003, and its stock has been traded on the U.S. market (NASDAQ: FMCN) since its IPO in July 2005. In May 2013, the company went private.

As of March 31, 2007, it reported that its network included:

  • 83,256 screens showing advertising in sites including office buildings and outdoor
  • 40,736 screens in retail outlets, including 842 supermarkets, 1,196 hypermarkets and 1,897 convenience stores
  • 124,542 poster frames in elevators

    • In March 2007, Focus acquired Allyes Information Technology Company, China’s largest online ad agency.

    Focus also sells advertising in cinemas and until 2008 operated a mobile telephone advertising business.

    In December 2008, Focus reached an agreement with SINA Corporation that SINA would acquire most of Focus's digital out-of-home business, but the deal was abandoned in September 2009.

    In May 2013, Focus Media was taken private in a $3.7 billion transaction by a consortium consisting of The Carlyle Group, FountainVest Partners, CITIC Capital, China Everbright as well as existing shareholders Jason Jiang (founder and Chairman) and Fosun International. The company was then listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange by backdoor listing.

    Alleged fraud

    In November 2011, Muddy Waters Research reported massive fraud at the company. It alleged that the company

  • has been fraudulently overstating the number of screens in its LCD network by approximately 50%,
  • has claimed to acquire, write down, and dispose of companies that it never actually purchased,
  • has written at least 21 acquisitions down to zero and then given them away for no consideration,
  • has been used by insiders as their counterparty in trading in and out of subsidiary Allyes, with several individuals earning a total of at least $70.1 million, while shareholders lost $159.6 million.

    • Focus denied the allegations. The Company was subsequently taken private by a private equity consortium in May 2013.

    References

    Focus Media Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA