Focus Media Information Technology, formerly Focus Media Holding, is a Chinese company which operates

out-of-home advertising Outdoor advertising or out-of-home (OOH) advertising includes public billboards, wallscapes, and posters seen while "on the go". OOH advertising formats fall into four main categories: billboards, street furniture, Transit media, transit, and a ...

in China which consist predominantly of

digital signage Digital signage is a segment of electronic signage that uses Electronic visual display, digital display technologies to present multimedia content in both public and private environments. Content may include video, images, text, or interactive me ...

screens and claims to own the country's largest Internet

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

Relisting

In November 2011,

Muddy Waters Research Muddy Waters Research LLC is an American privately held due diligence based investment firm founded by Carson Block that conducts investigative research on public companies while also taking investment positions that reflect their research. It ha ...

reported massive

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

and corruption within the company. Focus denied the allegations. Until 2020, Muddy Waters had shorted 18 Chinese companies, including New Oriental(EDU), Anta Sports(02020.hk), Luckin Coffee(LK), and so on, most of which have been developing well. In May 2013, Focus Media was subsequently taken private and delisted from the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

by a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

consortium that included

FountainVest Partners FountainVest Partners (FountainVest; ) is an Asian investment firm based in Hong Kong that invests in the private markets. The firm focuses on China's media and entertainment, sports and consumer-related sectors although it has expanded into oth ...

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

, China Everbright and

CITIC Capital CITIC Capital () is a Chinese alternative investment firm founded in 2002 that is headquartered in Hong Kong. Background CITIC Capital was founded on 4 February 2002 originally as CITIC Capital Markets, an investment banking joint venture b ...

. In June 2015, Focus Media reached a $7.4 Billion deal to list on

Shenzhen Stock Exchange The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE; ) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shenzhen, in the People's Republic of China. It is one of three stock exchanges operating independently in Mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Excha ...

via reverse merger. Its market value breaks through 100 billion yuan. In 2016, Focus Media was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index. In 2017, Focus was included in the MSCI China A-share Index, and in 2024, Focus was included in the CSI A50 Index.

References

External links

* {{Portal, Companies Companies in the CSI 100 Index Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Advertising agencies of China Chinese brands Companies based in Shanghai Marketing companies established in 2003 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq The Carlyle Group Fosun International Chinese companies established in 2003 2003 in Shanghai