NEW YORK: Fleishman-Hillard announced on Monday that it purchased a majority stake in Paul Wilmot Communications (PWC), a New York-based agency specializing in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle PR.
Paul Johnson, Fleishman's vice chairman for worldwide growth and president of public affairs, said the agencies entered discussions about the deal over a year ago.
“What they bring to us is creativity, a client list. We bring them reach because they're… very excited about collaborating and building out their brand,” said Johnson. “We can help [PWC] shoulder some costs as a smaller firm.”
He added that Paul [Wilmot's] history in entertainment and PWC's experience in consumer luxury marketing complemented Fleishman's focus on its entertainment and luxury categories.
PWC clients include Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta, and M.A.C cosmetics, among others.
According to Johnson, PWC will continue to operate independently while the agencies will work to expand the brand to other markets, including Los Angeles, London and Tokyo. He did not expect layoffs and said that Paul Wilmot, founder and CEO of PWC, would continue to direct the firm. Financial terms of the agreement were not released.
Wilmot noted that he had always wanted to expand the brand, but was never ready to “pull the trigger.”
“What's most exciting to us is that Paul Johnson and [Fleishman president and CEO] Dave Senay insisted that we would open three offices immediately,” he said, adding that the satellite agencies will be built within Fleishman offices in those markets.
