NEW YORK — Burson has formalized its Latin America offering, which includes Brazil-based Máquina handling multinational business and the departure of BCW Latin America president Guido Gaona.

Máquina, which will serve global and regional companies, became part of BCW through the 2018 merger of Burson-Marsteller and Cohn & Wolfe.

JeffreyGroup, the Latin America specialist firm acquired by H&K in 2022, will provide regionwide services across corporate, brand communications and public affairs consulting.

All BCW businesses in Latin America will be incorporated into the flagship Burson brand, which will formally launch July 1 when BCW and Hill & Knowlton merge. All Hill & Knowlton teams will also be incorporated into Burson and JeffreyGroup in the region. 

“A foundational objective of the Burson merger is to ensure clients have borderless access to the best talent and capabilities to help them solve their most complex challenges and build reputational currency,” said BCW Americas CEO Kristine Boyden, who will become Burson’s Americas CEO after the merger. “Our offering in Latin America, with Burson and our specialist agencies, is set up to deliver exceptional results for clients to help them build reputation and deliver value.”

The reorganization includes the departure of BCW Mexico leader Guido Gaona, who was promoted to president of Latin America last October and has been responsible for all of BCW’s business and talent across the region, a spokesperson said. His last day will be May 15.

Earlier this month, Burson confirmed that there would be redundancies across the global business.

Burson has owned operations in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, and Puerto Rico, as well as a regional team in Miami, FL whose capabilities extend across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Newly appointed market leaders include Argentina CEO Denise Cancian; Brazil CEO Rosa Vanzella; Chile market leader Denise Humphreys; Columbia market leader Dario Minore; Mexico CEO Mauricio Gutiérrez; Peru interim market leader Adriana Pedraz; Uruguay market leader Hugo Hernandez; and Natalia Montoya, Burson/JeffreyGroup regional managing director.

“We have an amazing team of talented and experienced communications consultants to counsel our clients and lead our business across the region,” said Brian Burlingame, Burson Latin America CEO. “This is a group of high performers with recognized expertise in their markets and successful track records building and leading talented agency teams and partnering with clients in a variety of industries.”