U.S. PR FIRMS ARE IN ACQUISITION MODE IN OVERSEAS MARKETS

Several big-name PR firms are altering the terrain of the global market with some recent acquisitions:

Edelman Public Relations, New York, acquired its 10-person, 15-client Taiwan affiliate, Profiles Corporate Communications Consultants, for less than $1 million, according to Richard Edelman, president and CEO.

Edelman told PR NEWS last week that Profiles had been an Edelman partner for four years but the PR company wanted to buy the Taipei-based PR house - which reported about $700,000 in annual fees - to double Profiles' revenue within the next few years.

The office in Taiwan, as of Feb. 24, is part of the Greater China and North Asia region of Edelman. "We're th only PR firm to have a presence in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China," said Edelman.

New York-based PR giant Burson-Marsteller (BM) will nix its alliance with Switzerland-based Peter Butikofer A.G. after it becomes a majority shareholder April 15 of the $7.2-million-fee Swiss PR company Jaeggi Communications. Jaeggi's 60 employees will become Burson-Marsteller employees, said Tom Bell, BM president and CEO. Bell wouldn't disclose financial details surrounding the deal.

"Burson-Marsteller is active in the acquisition of talent [people], not businesses, worldwide. We didn't want to just have an alliance in Switzerland - we wanted to own," added Bell. "We are planning that Jaeggi, which has operations in Bern and Zurich, will give us a strong European presence."

As part of its core strategy to increase its global stronghold, New York-based McCann-Erickson, which acquired high-tech PR house The Weber Group at the close of last year (PR NEWS, Dec. 16, 1996), recently unveiled another acquisition: McCann-Erickson reported last week that it acquired The Ludgate Group, a financial and corporate consultancy firm headquartered in London. (Its operations, however, extend throughout Europe and to Asia and North America.) The Ludgate Group, which reported $15 million-plus in fees in 1996, has more than 150 employees who will become McCann-Erickson PR staffers. Tim Trotter, Ludgate CEO, becomes deputy chair of the evolving Weber Public Relations Worldwide sector, which is headed by Larry Weber, chairman of both The Weber Group and the new international division.

Rebecca Seel Oddsund, director of client services, said negotiations with The Ludgate Group had been ongoing for several months and that the international acquisition is one of many which will take place during the next five years as McCann-Erickson strengthens its PR services in the foreign PR market - specifically in healthcare and consumer strategic communications.

The Ludgate Group has about 160 clients, including Adidas, Herzgenrauch, Germany, Daimler-Benz, Stuttgart, Germany, and British Biotech, London. (Richard Edelman, 312/240-3000; Tom Bell, 212/614-4000; Rebecca Seel Oddsund, 617/661-7900)

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