Teneo, the global CEO advisory firm, has acquired leading Dublin PR agency PSG Communications. PSG, led by chief executive Mick O’Keeffe, was formed in 2014 following a merger between Pembroke Communications and Slattery Communications.
The PSG senior management team, including O'Keeffe and Padraig Slattery, resigned as directors of PSG Communications Ltd on July 14, along with Alan Tyrrell, Angie Grant, Graeme Slattery, Ita Slattery, Kelli O'Keefe, Lisa McDonald and Marian Ryan.
The company is now headed by new directors Steve Sullivan and Charles Watson, chairman of Teneo International, together with Brendan Murphy, who currently leads Teneo’s operations in Ireland.
Teneo Holdings was founded in 2011 by Declan Kelly (pictured) – brother of former government minister Alan Kelly - and Doug Band and Paul Keary. The firm has over 500 employees and its USP is PR advisory for the C-Suite.
Before becoming involved with Teneo, Doug Band was former US president Bill Clinton's right hand man, and is credited with directing Clinton down the philanthropy route after Clinton left the White House. Kelly was also well-got with Hillary Clinton, and access to Clinton circles was a key factor in getting Teneo off the launchpad. According to US reports (see links below), Band's relationship with the Clintons has cooled in recent years.
In Association with
Teneo operates out of 14 offices around the world across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Greater China. In January 2015, private equity firm BC Partners acquired a minority stake in Teneo and helped fund Teneo's recent acquisition of London PR firms Blue Rubicon and StockWell in London. To industry observers, that move signalled Teneo's strategy to take on leading strategic comms agencies such as Brunswick, Finsbury and FTI Consulting, an alama mater of Kelly's.
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In Ireland, PSG doesn't have the same penetration with PLCs as some of its Dublin public relations peers, though no doubt Kelly intends to change that.
According to Kelly: “I have known Padraig Slattery (pictured below) for many years and have tremendous respect for the business he along with Mick O'Keeffe and the rest of the team at PSG have built. Ireland is a critical market for many multinational corporations today and a great place to invest in the current volatile post-Brexit environment. The addition of PSG provides our clients with access to additional world-class expertise and capabilities.”
O’Keeffe commented: “We have followed the recent exponential growth of Teneo under the strategic direction of Declan Kelly as a leading global consulting firm with growing interest. We have huge respect for what Teneo has achieved and to now be part of the global firm will without doubt open the next chapter of our growth and development.”
PSG employs 55 people. PSG Communications Ltd, formerly called Slattery Communications Ltd, booked a net profit of €74,000 in 2014. Year-end trade debtors were €1,215,000 compared with €370,000 a year earlier. Creditors amounted to €1,390,000 and net worth was €1.6 million. To view PSG’s 2014 accounts, click here.
