Hill+Knowlton Canada has acquired Montreal-based public engagement company Acertys, in a move that it says makes H+K the leading public engagement firm in both English and French Canada.
WPP-owned H+K says its public engagement practice has become a pillar in its suite of strategic services and the acquisition builds on the growth of the practice following its 2012 purchase of Ottawa-based public engagement firm Ascentum. The two offices will be coming together under one roof in Montreal later this year.
Acertys, which has 12 employees, has a client roster that includes private and public sector organizations in the fields of urban development, real estate, transportation, energy and natural resources. Its client base complements H+K’s engagement projects across a wide range of industries, H+K says.
“Delivering critical and integrated business solutions for our clients’ most complex challenges is what we do best,” Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of H+K Canada, said in a release. “Combine our strategic thinking and communications, research and measurement capabilities, social and digital media strategies, creative services offering and flawless tactical execution with our enhanced engagement strategies services, and we are unmatched in Canada’s communications industry.”
Former Acertys principals Jacques Bénard and Isabelle Verreault have become senior vice-presidents at H+K.
“Joining H+K gives us and our clients access to the most comprehensive engagement expertise in the country alongside a massive pool of high-quality professional resources. This is a tremendous asset to meet the emerging needs and future challenges of stakeholder engagement and public participation,” Bénard and Verreault said.
