Focus Media

Corporate brand

Focus Media is a Chinese out-of-home advertising and digital media company best known for advertising screens installed in elevators and residential communities.

Last updated October 9, 2026

AI crawler reads

No AI crawler has read this profile yet.

Overview

Focus Media Information Technology, commonly known as Focus Media and formerly branded Focus Media Holding, is a Chinese out-of-home advertising and digital media company. Founded in 2003 by advertising executive Jason Jiang, the company developed an advertising model centered on digital screens in elevators and residential apartment buildings. Its network places commercial messages in semi-enclosed, repeatedly visited environments, allowing advertisers to reach office workers, residents, shoppers, and other urban audiences during routine daily journeys. The company’s principal business is the sale of advertising inventory across digital signage networks. Its formats have historically included screens in office-building elevators, residential elevators, community spaces, and other locations with recurring foot traffic. The elevator environment is central to Focus Media’s positioning: audiences typically spend a short but repeated period in a confined space, while the screen is designed to provide a relatively concentrated point of attention. Alongside screen-based advertising, the company has developed broader community and location-based media offerings. Focus Media describes itself as an international out-of-home media operator. Its operating footprint has included China and overseas markets across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Oceania. The company’s international presence has included local operations or market sites in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. China remains the core market associated with the company and its principal elevator-media network. The business underwent a major ownership and listing transition during the 2010s. In May 2013, Focus Media was taken private and delisted from Nasdaq by a consortium that included FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital. In June 2015, it reached an agreement to return to the public market in China through a reverse merger and subsequently began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in December 2015 under stock code 002027. The company’s market value was reported to have exceeded 100 billion yuan around the relisting period. It was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index in 2016, the MSCI China A-share Index in 2017, and the CSI A50 Index in 2024. Focus Media’s brand proposition combines broad urban reach with repeated exposure and standardized digital delivery. Its customers are advertisers seeking mass awareness, brand-building, and geographically targeted exposure rather than one-to-one digital performance marketing alone. The model also gives the company access to shared residential and commercial spaces, a feature that supports network scale but can create questions about residents’ consent, noise, and the commercial use of common areas. In 2025, a protest at Shanghai University involving the shutdown of more than 100 elevator advertising screens generated public discussion about intrusive advertising and the governance of elevator media. The incident highlighted the tension between the company’s high-attention advertising proposition and the experience of people who encounter the screens in spaces they do not directly control.

History

Focus Media was founded in China in 2003 by advertising executive Jason Jiang. From its early development, the company concentrated on a distinctive out-of-home advertising format: digital screens placed in elevators and other shared urban environments. Rather than relying only on roadside billboards or conventional broadcast media, the model used routine movement through office buildings and residential compounds as an advertising distribution channel. Elevators offered a particularly standardized setting, with repeated audiences and limited competing visual space during each ride. The company expanded its network beyond individual screens into a broader digital media platform. Its inventory came to include office-building elevators, residential elevators, community spaces, and related location-based environments. This structure enabled advertisers to purchase campaigns by building type, city, audience context, or geographic reach. Focus Media’s proposition emphasized repetition and concentrated attention: people encountered the same type of screen frequently while commuting, working, or returning home. The model helped establish elevator advertising as a recognizable category within modern Chinese out-of-home media. Focus Media also pursued international expansion. Its referenced operating markets span more than 15 countries across five continents, with local market sites or activities in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Oceania. The company’s overseas footprint has included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam, in addition to China and Hong Kong. The international business extended the company’s elevator-screen and digital-signage concept into other urban property and community environments. A major corporate transition occurred in 2013. In May of that year, Focus Media was taken private by a consortium that included FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital. The transaction resulted in the company’s delisting from Nasdaq. This period placed the company outside the public U.S. equity market while its advertising network and operating business continued to develop. Focus Media later returned to public trading in China. In June 2015, it reached a reported 7.4 billion U.S. dollar deal to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange through a reverse merger. The company began trading on the Shenzhen exchange in December 2015 under stock code 002027, and its market value was reported to have exceeded 100 billion yuan around the relisting period. The return to the Chinese market restored public-market visibility and provided a domestic listing platform for the business. Following the relisting, Focus Media entered several major Chinese and international equity benchmarks. It was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index in 2016 and the MSCI China A-share Index in 2017. In 2024, it was included in the CSI A50 Index. These index developments form part of the company’s post-relisting public-market history. In the 2020s, Focus Media continued to be associated with large-scale digital out-of-home advertising, especially screens in elevators and residential communities. The same network characteristics that support its commercial proposition also expose the company to questions about public-space governance. In 2025, a five-day protest at Shanghai University involved the shutdown of more than 100 elevator advertising screens reportedly belonging to Focus Media. The episode led to online debate about intrusive advertising noise, whether residents consent to commercial messages in shared buildings, and how advertising revenue should relate to communal residential environments. It underscored a continuing challenge for elevator-media operators: balancing advertisers’ demand for unavoidable attention with the preferences of people who encounter the media as part of their everyday surroundings.

2024
Added to the CSI A50 Index
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Focus Media was included in the CSI A50 Index.
2017
Added to the MSCI China A-share Index
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The company was included in the MSCI China A-share Index.
2016
Added to the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Focus Media was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index.
2015
Focus Media agreed to return to the Chinese public market
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The company reached a reported 7.4 billion U.S. dollar reverse-merger transaction intended to place it on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
2015
Trading began on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Focus Media began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in December under stock code 002027.
2013
The company was taken private and delisted from Nasdaq
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
A private-equity consortium including FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital took Focus Media private, ending its Nasdaq listing.
2003
Focus Media was founded
[1]Focus Media - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Advertising executive Jason Jiang founded the company in China, establishing the business that became known for elevator-based and other digital out-of-home advertising.

Products and positioning

A scaled out-of-home and digital media network focused on repeated, high-attention advertising exposure in elevators, office buildings, residential communities, and other shared urban spaces.

Digital out-of-home advertising
Elevator digital-screen advertising
Digital screens installed in elevators are the company’s signature media format. They deliver short-form commercial content to people traveling through office and residential buildings, offering advertisers repeated exposure in a confined environment with relatively limited competing media. Campaigns can be distributed across a network of buildings or targeted to selected cities, property types, or communities.
Out-of-home advertising
Office-building media
Office-building media packages use screens and related placements in commercial properties to reach employees, visitors, and other professional audiences. The format is suited to brand-awareness campaigns seeking frequent contact with urban workers during commuting and workplace routines.
Community advertising
Residential-community media
Residential-community advertising extends the network into apartment elevators and shared community spaces. It gives brands access to residents during recurring home-to-building journeys and supports geographically distributed campaigns. The format also places the company’s commercial media within communal environments, making building-level acceptance and audience experience important aspects of its operation.
International media services
International digital out-of-home network
Focus Media has operated or maintained market activities across more than 15 countries on five continents. These international offerings apply the company’s broader digital-signage and location-based advertising approach to local office, residential, and community environments.

Controversies

2025
Elevator advertising noise protest
Source
2015
Acquisition and Disclosure Dispute Settled with SEC; Company and Jason Jiang Pay Approximately US$55.6 Million in Total
In 2015, Focus Media and Jason Jiang reached a settlement with the SEC over an investigation into historical acquisitions and disclosures, paying a total of approximately US$55.6 million, involving company payments, individual payments, and disgorgement of interest. This amount should not be described entirely as a fine on the listed company itself.
Source
2011
Muddy Waters Short-Seller Report Questions Operating Metrics and Assets; Company Denies Allegations
In 2011, a Muddy Waters short-seller report questioned Focus Media's screen count, operating assets, and disclosures, causing its share price to fall sharply. The company responded point by point and denied the report's allegations. This entry concerns a short-selling and public relations controversy and does not treat the institutional report itself as a judicial finding.
Source

2015
Reverse-merger route to Shenzhen listingM&A
Background
After its Nasdaq delisting, Focus Media sought a new public-market structure in China.
Action taken
The company agreed to a reported 7.4 billion U.S. dollar transaction to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange through a reverse merger and began trading in December 2015 under code 002027.
Aftermath
The transaction returned Focus Media to public trading in China and was followed by inclusion in major domestic and international equity indexes.
Reported transaction value. 7.4 billion U.S. dollars (June 2015)
Source
2013
Private-equity consortium took Focus Media privateM&A
Background
Focus Media was publicly traded on Nasdaq before a consortium including FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital pursued a take-private transaction.
Action taken
The consortium completed the take-private transaction, and Focus Media was delisted from Nasdaq in May 2013.
Aftermath
The company operated as a private business until arranging a later return to China's public market.
Source

Recent events

2026.10.10
Reported2026.10.10
China's market regulator conditionally approves Focus Media's acquisition of Xinchao Media[13]市场监管总局附加限制性条件批准分众传媒收购新潮传媒finance.sina.com.cn
On October 10, China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced that, after review, it approved with restrictive conditions Focus Media's acquisition of Xinchao Media shares. The announcement states Focus Media holds a 50%-55% share of China's in-elevator media advertising market and Xinchao Media 5%-10%, for a combined 55%-60%. Focus Media committed that, absent justified reasons, the combined entity's annual actual transaction prices in each city will not exceed the parties' respective prices in those cities from the 24 months before the effective date; it will continue performing existing customer contracts and provide media services on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms; and it will waive all rights arising from already-signed exclusive clauses with property companies and other elevator-media point holders, and will not agree to exclusive or automatic-renewal terms when signing or renewing points.
2026.08.18
Reported2026.08.19
Focus Media releases 2026 half-year report[14]分众传媒发布2026年半年报finance.sina.com.cn
Focus Media released its 2026 half-year report on August 18, reporting revenue of 5.991 billion yuan (down 1.98% year on year), net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.128 billion yuan (up 17.39%), and non-GAAP net profit down 7.06%.
2026.06
Reported2026.08.19
Shenzhen Stock Exchange suspends review of Focus Media's acquisition of Xinchao Media[14]分众传媒发布2026年半年报finance.sina.com.cn
Focus Media's plan to acquire 90.02% of Chengdu Xinchao Media Group via share issuance and cash was suspended from review by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange at the end of June because the financial data in its application materials had expired; the company must submit updated financial materials to resume the review.
2019.12.26
Reported2019.12.27
Focus Media wins 2019 China Zhen Shan Award for Annual Benevolent Enterprise[15]分众传媒荣获2019中国臻善奖年度臻善企业大奖finance.sina.com.cn
Focus Media Group won the 2019 China Zhen Shan Award for Annual Benevolent Enterprise at the award ceremony on December 26.
2019.10.10
Reported2019.10.12
Bruker and Focus Media sign strategic partnership[16]布鲁可与分众传媒签署战略合作协议finance.sina.com.cn
Bruker and Focus Media signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai for a three-year collaboration on marketing strategy and brand promotion.

Sources24 sources

Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/focus-media-holding · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled