BORDER LINES: NEW YORK - Publicis buys LobsenzStevens

Publicis, the French advertising and PR group, has acquired LobsenzStevens, a pounds 3 million turnover full service agency, which has made its name in the investor relations, consumer and healthcare arenas. It is Publicis’s first agency in New York, and further acquisitions are planned in Chicago, Washington DC and again in New York. San Francisco technology agency Purdom PR was acquired last month. Andy Hopson, US president and chief executive of Publicis Dialog (the company’s PR arm), said: ’This is not the definitive move for Publicis in New York.