James Warburton quits APN following takeover by JCDecaux

JCDecaux has announced that Steve O’Connor will lead the combined JCDecaux and APN Outdoor businesses.

APN Outdoor’s departing CEO, James Warburton. Picture: Hollie Adams.

JCDecaux has announced that Steve O’Connor will lead the combined JCDecaux and APN Outdoor businesses.

The appointment comes after the world’s largest outdoor advertising company received court approval yesterday on the acquisition of APN Outdoor.

Effective from 31st October, Mr O’Connor becomes chief executive, replacing James Warburton. Currently, Mr O’Connor is CEO of JCDecaux’s local arm.

The Australian reported today that Mr Warburton is leaving the business this month on completion of a $1.2 billion takeover of the advertising company by the French giant.

The former Network Ten chief executive told The Australian the deal meant the role he had been hired for would “change significantly”, bringing an end to his 10-month stint at the helm of APN. “I’ve enjoyed being back in the media industry but it’s a very different role now — a divisional head in a much larger company,” he said.

Mr Warburton arrived at APN after a successful 4½-year tenure at Supercars ended last December. As CEO of the motor-racing series, he more than doubled its profits and lifted the television audience.

APN offered Mr Warburton a chance to restore his reputation in the media industry after he was fired from Ten after just 13 months in the job. Armed with a new strategy to shake up APN, Mr Warburton chalked up some early wins, developing a data-driven technology and research system so that it could tailor ­advertisements to consumers, an area where Big Digital excels.

Mr Warburton, who was once at the centre of a high-profile legal battle between the Seven and Ten networks, also retained key contracts and aggressively pursued new business, driving higher revenue at APN’s billboards and digital screen business. A well-known and outspoken industry leader,  he raised the profile of the outdoor industry.

APN in June failed in a bid to acquire Here, There & Everywhere’s rival out-of-home business, Adshel. It then ­finalised a deal with JCDecaux, selling on a high price multiple of 12.8 times last year’s earnings.

“While I would have loved to continue the momentum we were building, the unsolicited takeover offer from JCDecaux at a record valuation multiple in the Australasian outdoor industry was just too good to ignore and a great outcome for our shareholders,” he said.

Mr Warburton indicated he was keen to remain in a media industry grappling with the challenge of Netflix, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon.

“It doesn’t matter what ­medium you’re in, it’s about ­innovating and driving growth. I’ve been fortunate that many of my media jobs have been turnarounds. Understanding consumers is the key to winning the battle with new rivals.”