LONDON — Grayling has strengthened its offer in Germany with the acquisition of Berlin-based public affairs and crisis communications specialist Advice Partners.

The acquisition adds a third office to Grayling’s presence in Germany, in addition to Frankfurt and Munich. Advice Partners will continue operating under its current brand name and the leadership team of Nicole Heyder and Boris Barth will join Grayling Germany’s management board, reporting to Grayling Germany CEO Geraldine Schroeder (pictured).

The acquisition follows Grayling’s appointment of Schroeder in 2020, and Marco Dautel as head of Munich in 2021.

Grayling global CEO Sarah Scholefield said: “As a major political and economic player in Europe, Germany continues to be a key market for both Grayling and our clients. This acquisition enables us to provide more integrated approaches to engage with a wider variety of stakeholders and is highly complementary to the Grayling portfolio.

“Advice Partners has built a long-standing and excellent reputation across a range of industries, and they are well positioned to support companies as they navigate an era of profound transformation.  We are delighted to welcome them to the Grayling network.”

Grayling is now part of Accordience, the newly-rebranded PR agency group within Huntsworth that also includes Red Consultancy, Citigate Dewe Rogerson and Cirkle, which was bought by Huntsworth in April.