MUMBAI: Soon after buying out BBBH, Publicis Groupe has acquired Germany's strategic communications consultancy Communications & Network Consulting AG (CNC).

The acquired company will become a part of Publicis’ flagship strategic communications network, MSLGROUP.

CNC will, however, continue to be led by current CEO Dr. Christoph Walther. The CNC supervisory board will see the addition of MSLGROUP CEO Olivier Fleurot and MSLGROUP president for the EMEA region Anders Kempe with the latter taking the mantle of chairman.

CNC is group headquartered in Munich and has offices in 14 other cities including one at New Delhi. Started in 2002, the agency employs close to 100 professionals across its offices in Europe, Asia, North and South America.

The German clients will be offered the services of two consultancies. On the one hand, clients can avail of the services of CNC with its particular focus on strategic, financial and corporate communications as well as public affairs and on the other, they also can use the services of MSL Germany, with its broad capabilities across the communications spectrum including social media, corporate communications and reputation management.

CNC advises large corporations, mid-cap companies, institutions and individuals on all aspects of strategic communications within their specific markets providing services like strategic communications and reputation management, financial communications, crisis counseling including litigation advisory, branding and public affairs.

In the IPO market, CNC has been the market leader in Germany since 2005. The consultancy has been involved in more than 100 transactions with a total volume of more than 180 billion Euro and has a particularly strong focus on cross-border mandates.

Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy said, "CNC is one of the premier strategic and financial public relations firms in Europe, with a client base that is outstanding. I have followed CNC's success story with interest and I am impressed by the company's entrepreneurial spirit. The skill set will fit perfectly into our group and our strategy to make Germany one of our key hubs.”

Fleurot said, "Bringing CNC into MSLGROUP makes us one of the top three networks in Germany, and at the same time gives us very valuable additional strategic capabilities in other key markets. We see considerable potential in matching and leveraging our collective competencies and relationships."

Walther added, "We are very excited to team up with Publicis Groupe's strategic communications network MSLGROUP as it provides us with a truly global footprint. While our current clients will enjoy continued high-class service by the existing CNC offices, we will be able to tap into the significant benefits offered by being part of MSLGROUP."