Indiantelevision.com Team

(3 July 2008 3:30 pm)

MUMBAI: French advertising company Publicis Groupe has acquired Kekst and Company, Inc, a New York-based strategic and financial public relations firm, for an undisclosed amount.

The firm, which was privately held, will operate autonomously under its name as a member of Publicis Groupe’s specialised agencies and marketing services, and will continue to be led by founder and chief executive officer Gershon Kekst.

Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Lévy said, “We are investing in Kekst and Company today because of the depth of its professional capability and its future growth potential. I am very pleased that Kekst and Company will continue to be led by Gershon Kekst. We view this as an extremely important addition to our Groupe’s capabilities and its strategy to provide clients around the world with the highest-quality communications services possible.”

"I have known Maurice for 20 years and have enormous admiration for his unique success in making Publicis Groupe the global leader it is today. We have high expectations for this combination as it will preserve the best characteristics of our firm and its culture, while offering us opportunities to grow with the support of a well respected global communications partner,” Kekst and Company founder and CEO Gershon Kekst added.

Kekst and Company has been behind some of the largest and most contested takeovers. It has been the adviser to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a private equity firm, and is currently working for Anheuser-Busch in its response to an unsolicited takeover bid from InBev.