First it was social media agency Attention Partners, then analytics shop Communifx, the experiential Team Enterprises in Florida, and production house Shout Media. Now Toronto-based MDC Partners has announced it has acquired a majority interest in Sloane & Company, a New York-based public relations firm.
Sloane specializes in financial and public affairs communications, and was recently named crisis agency of the year by The Holmes Report. Sloane represented General Motors’ bondholders in early 2009 during the automaker’s bankruptcy.
The firm’s client list currently includes New York Life, TiVo and Walgreens among others.
Elliot Sloane, the agency’s chief executive officer, has known Nadal for a number of years and believes MDC’s majority interest will enhance his offering by staying hands-off with teams that work well “and then providing the resources and expertise to grow in areas that we think make sense.”
When asked where he’d like to see his business grow through the partnership, Sloane said, “the growth in our public affairs business would lead one to believe that we might want to do more in that area, either investing in more talent or potentially opening up a Washington office.”
Sloane also said he also hopes to leverage the digital experts across MDC’s network.
MDC has been announcing acquisitions in a series of well-scheduled press releases since late last year. Miles Nadal, MDC chairman, has said he’s willing to spend up to $100 million on agency and personnel acquisitions in the coming months.
“We believe that most of the innovative initiatives happening in marketing communications today are happening within the public relations arena,” Nadal said in a statement. “Clients are under enormous pressure to deliver measurable results in a shorter and shorter time frame. Smaller entrepreneurial firms that are empowered to think differently, have the ability to do brilliant work and want to share the wealth, are the best partners for us.”
MDC owns an interest in Toronto public relations firm Veritas Communications. Its other Canadian holdings include Zig, Bruce Mau Design and Henderson Bas.
