A long-standing partnership 25 I SOCIETE GENERALE 2013-2014 ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT ociete Generale's teams have always seen the business of banking S as helping companies grow and realise their projects. One such example is the partnership with JCDecaux that began right from the company’s beginnings. with JCDecaux In 1964, a new tax was imposed on advertising billboards along French highways. A young entrepreneur from Beauvais named Jean-Claude Decaux, who had joined the advertising industry in the previous decade, saw his company's growth shrink. He needed to find a new idea. Decaux came up with advertising-supported bus shelters, which would allow cities in France to set up a street furniture network that was fully funded by advertising. The company wanted to fund this idea and tie in the support of its bank. The Beauvais branch of Societe Generale decided to help its client after diligently evaluating the project. Risk management was one of the branch’s everyday activities, and its expertise in this respect had led it to become the main bank for major companies in the region. In 1964, the first municipalities and advertisers signed on to the plan. Societe Generale helped expand the business model invented by Jean-Claude Decaux to a global audience. The partnership was a success and within 50 years the company had become the world leader in outdoor communications, growing its business in more than 60 countries. "Even today, Societe Generale works with JCDecaux," says Bruno Teman, Senior Banker at Corporate and Investment Banking. "The Group is continuing its growth along several complementary lines: new concepts like the Vélib' bike share programme, organic growth through new contracts with municipalities and transport operators, and accelerating growth through geographic expansion. The main challenge for Societe Generale is to advise JCDecaux in its strategic actions while maintaining a constant dialogue regarding its day-to-day business." ■
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