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ICR completes an investment from institutional investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to support the agency’s growth and expansion. Global provider and manager of alternative investment products Investcorp, which first invested in ICR in 2018, will also remain an investor in the firm. “ICR has created a remarkable value proposition for companies and their leadership teams thanks to its unique portfolio of services, high‑quality network and the distinctive profile of its client-facing team members,” said CDPQ executive VP and head of private equity and capital solutions Martin Laguerre. Jefferies LLC served as lead financial advisor, while William Blair also served as financial advisor for Investcorp and ICR. Credit Suisse served as financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP as legal counsel for CDPQ.
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MARCO, a Madrid-based agency with offices in cities including Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris and Mexico City, acquires a majority stake in Africa Communications Media Group, an African-owned agency with headquarters in Johannesburg. ACG has worked with such clients as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mercedes Benz, Bloomberg and Ethiopian Airlines. ACG founder and CEO Mimi Kalinda will work with MARCO founder and CEO Didier Lagae on company branding, and she will also lead the communications operation to support MARCO clients in the sub-Saharan market. “The acquisition of ACG with their direct presence in three key markets plus an indirect presence in another 40 delivers the expansion we were looking for,” said Lagae. Kalinda added that “being part of the MARCO family translated into real opportunities for our clients to not only build their brands and reputations in Africa but also well beyond the continent’s borders.”
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North 6th Agency’s #Pitching4Purpose initiative, which was launched in 2019, reaches the $50,000 mark in contributions made to non-profit organizations. Each month, N6A firm tallies the total number of client results secured across the agency, which include everything from digital and print articles to broadcast, radio, and podcast segments, and reflects those results in donations to a selected charity. In addition to such national charities as the American Cancer Society, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and Meals on Wheels, N6A staff chose to contribute to such groups as the WIN Foundation, which supports individuals and families in addiction recovery and Operation Backpack, which provides grade-specific school supplies to students living in New York City homeless or domestic violence shelters. “We launched this initiative as a way for the agency to backup its hard work with actions that impact positive changem” said N6A chief executive officer Daniela Mancinelli.
Precision Strategies, an integrated strategy and marketing agency with offices in Washington and New York, acquires Firehouse Strategies, a DC-based public affairs firm... AVENIR GLOBAL acquires London-based Thinks Insight & Strategy... Good Company, which bills itself as a “cultural engineering firm,” is launched by DJ Hardy, a veteran of Johannesburg-based communications consultancy arxna and M&C Saatchi Sport & Enteratinment and Casey Stickles, who has worked at 5WPR, Rubenstein and MWW.
PSC (Princeton Strategic Communications) acquires Nonprofit Partners... CG Life launches 24/364, a cultural brand platform intended to drive awareness, connection and action aimed at keeping rare disease at the forefront of the health and social conversation... Interluxe Group, which focuses on brand experiences and in-person activations; Quinn, a strategic communications agency; and media and digital agency North & Warren are uniting under the Interluxe Group banner.
KITH, which provides corporate reputation and crisis preparation services, is now owned by CEO Stephanie Craig, who has been with the firm since 2021... The Marketing Cloud, a part of Stagwell, introduces several expansions to Agent Cloud, the platform it launched in October 2025 to simplify access to its AI tools and marketing assistants.... Notified launches its AI Press Release Optimizer.
V2 Communications launches its AI Visibility Solution and Earned Media at Scale, two service offerings designed to help companies increase visibility and credibility in generative search... The Public Relations Global Network brings on Greenough Communications as its Boston member agency... DBC is relaunching The DBC Industry Calendar as a free site to help communicators more easily discover relevant events and awards in the cluttered event landscape driven by the growth of webinars and online events. 
PAN releases new original research showing that a significant share of B2B citations surfaced by ChatGPT are inaccurate, misattributed or entirely fabricated, introducing a new credibility risk for brands... REQ, which has offices in DC and San Diego, opens in Phoenix... Notified introduces Market Intelligence, an addition to its all-in-one IR Hub, which gives IR teams a more streamlined way to prepare for earnings calls.
