Major outdoor player JCDecaux is speculated to be the top pick for the City of Sydney contract, worth roughly $300 million.

The City of Sydney contract, which encompasses street furniture, buses, and trains across the city is one of the country’s most sought after contracts.

More than 2,500 pieces of street furniture, including bus shelters, kiosks, public toilets, seats, litter bins, communications panels and more, will be included in the new contract.

A portion of advertising on street furniture items will be reserved for cultural events that support the arts and encourage people to take part in local creative endeavors.

JCDecaux has handled City of Sydney since its arrival on Aussie shores in 1997.

The outdoor giant has partnered with Telstra for the bid, though neither JCDecaux or the telecom have made a statement on the tender.

However, The Australian Financial Review has reported that JCDecaux’s global chairman and co-chief executive, Jean-Francois Decaux, as well as the company’s Aussie boss, Steve O’Connor have made the contract win a top priority.

A decision is expected to be made on the contract in the coming weeks.

In July of last year, The City of Sydney called for renewed expressions of interest (EOI) for the contract.

At the time, the council refined its requirements as part of the second expressions of interest process and is seeking an experienced service provider to deliver new street furniture, outdoor advertising assets and free public WiFi to Sydney city’s millions of daily visitors.

The City of Sydney first called for EOI in December of 2017, with the closing date originally scheduled in February of last year.

The speculation follows the massive acquisition of APN Outdoor by JCDecaux which was finalized in October of last year and saw with its completion the exit of APN CEO James Warburton.