LONDON: Huntsworth has completed the $58.7 million sale of a 19.6% stake to Chinese PR group BlueFocus.
The transaction and the accompanying appointment of BlueFocus CEO Oscar Zhao as a non-executive director of Huntsworth is part of a “strategic alliance” between the two groups.
The deal was announced in April before the two companies secured the approval of Chinese regulators and Huntsworth shareholders.
Huntsworth's first-half 2013 revenue fell 0.5% on a like-for-like basis to about $138.3 million. Its largest firm, Grayling, saw a like-for-like revenue drop of 7.2% in the period to $62.8 million.
Huntsworth also hired Bob Pickard, a former Edelman and Burson-Marsteller executive, as Asia-Pacific CEO in June.
This story originally appeared on the website of PRWeek UK.
