BUENOS AIRES: Hill & Knowlton is on the brink of snapping up Argentina's Fleishman-Hillard affiliate, the newly formed PR firm Vox Consulting, from right under Fleishman's nose.
BUENOS AIRES: Hill & Knowlton is on the brink of snapping up Argentina's Fleishman-Hillard affiliate, the newly formed PR firm Vox Consulting, from right under Fleishman's nose.
Vox is headed by local PR veteran Monica Maturano. The company is barely a year old, yet it has had several acquisition offers, according to market sources. Indeed, speculation locally says that one such suitor was Fleishman itself, having offered to formalize its relationship with the yearling PR agency by buying Maturano's company.
However, having beaten off the competition, H&K appears to be in position for full ownership of the agency, according to sources close to the due diligence process.
If H&K's bid is successful, it could prove embarrassing for Fleishman, since it only switched to Vox as a local affiliate four months ago, having dropped the more established PR agency Mora y Araujo Comunicacion Institucional from its roster of local alliances. Moreover, Vox was Fleishman's fourth partner in Buenos Aires in just six years.
At press time Fleishman's Miami-based regional president, Rissig Licha, was unavailable for comment on how his firm will deal with the loss of Vox to its rival.
For H&K's Argentine office, Vox will provide a chance to expand its client list, coming on board with accounts such as American Express and Korean car manufacturer Hyundai.
Maturano's boutique would be H&K's second acquisition in Argentina, following on from last year's purchase of Del Castillo Comunicacion.
Maturano started her own firm after she split with her former partner, Alejandro Zaia, who was the founder of ZC&M, a local PR company that consistently ranks among the top three in the Argentine market.
