LONDON--Samsung Electronics is pitching a sizeable PR brief to support its sponsorship of next year’s Paralympic Games in London.

The Holmes Report understands that international agencies in London are being briefed ahead of presentations later this month. The account is estimated at around $500K.

The Paralympics pitch comes after Samsung reviewed its 2012 Olympic Games PR programme earlier this year, handing the seven-figure assignment to A&R.

It is thought that A&R, an Edelman subsidiary that already handles several Samsung assignments, will again contest the pitch, along with fellow Samsung roster agency Weber Shandwick.

Samsung’s relationship with the Olympics began in 1997, when it signed a TOP (The Olympic Partner) contract with the IOC, which has since been extended until 2016. The company is now one of 11 category-exclusive Worldwide TOP Partners for the London 2012 Games, the most expensive level of Olympics sponsorship.

Samsung has also been a Paralympics partner since the 2006 Torino Winter Games. It extended this deal in early 2010, to include the 2012 Games in London.

Last year, A&R was selected to handle the company’s global smartphone comms after winning its international corporate assignment in 2009. Weber Shandwick, meanwhile, oversees Samsung’s global visual display and its North American corporate and consumer electronics business.

The pitch comes after Puma recently kicked off a global PR review to oversee its own Olympics PR activity. It is understood that a number of global networks, including Edelman and Weber Shandwick, are taking part in the pitch for a brief that is also valued at around $500K.

Samsung did not respond to request for comment as this story went live.