LONDON: Kupper Parker Communications, the largest independent PR agency in St. Louis, made a bold move toward international expansion last week, paying roughly dollars 1 million to acquire a 30% controlling interest in the London-based Communications in Business Group (CIB).
LONDON: Kupper Parker Communications, the largest independent PR
agency in St. Louis, made a bold move toward international expansion
last week, paying roughly dollars 1 million to acquire a 30% controlling
interest in the London-based Communications in Business Group (CIB).
The deal, expected to close at the end of January, is significant in
that few independents have the resources - not to mention the ambition -
to shoot for a greater overseas presence. Kupper took in roughly dollars
3 million in fees last year, placing it behind only Fleishman-Hillard
and Shandwick in St. Louis.
Kupper and CIB became familiar with one another while jointly handling a
Missouri Department of Economic Development account, according to Kupper
CEO Bruce Kupper. Negotiations lasted about six months, during which the
firms worked together on several projects to gauge their
compatibility.
Kupper boasts a number of hi-tech clients who had been inquiring about
European projects, so expansion via acquisition seemed a safe risk. ’We
really haven’t pushed it (international work) because we like to feel we
have the resources on the ground before taking on such projects,’ Kupper
said.
CIB only employs a half-dozen PR pros, but Kupper expects to increase
this figure after the union of the two agencies is formalized. Kupper’s
30% stake in CIB, which has offices in London, Milan and Dusseldorf,
will make it the firm’s largest shareholder.
Kupper has been on an acquisition binge recently, snapping up five
advertising and marketing firms over the past four years. It has roughly
160 employees and ended its most recent fiscal year with dollars 20
million in total revenues.
