US lobby group PPHC acquires UK communications firm Pagefield

PPHC, the bipartisan US public affairs group that has Republican lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg on its board, has made its first UK acquisition of a rival communications firm ahead of forthcoming elections in the country.

In a deal confirmed on Friday, PPHC acquired London-based Pagefield, a communications group founded by political lobbyist and former ITV and Camelot communications boss Mark Gallagher.

PPHC wants to bolster its international government affairs and public policy operations in the UK ahead of the forthcoming election and other votes in Europe, which are expected to lead to significant regulatory and policy changes. 

“Win or lose, a new group of legislators will be coming into power in Washington and London,” said one person with knowledge of the group’s strategy, pointing to the importance of companies being involved in the early stages of policymaking by new governments in the aftermath of the election. “Change is good.”

PPHC — which stands for Public Policy Holding Company — is a government relations firm headquartered in Washington DC, with additional offices in New York and California, specialising in US federal and state lobbying work.

However, the company chose to list in the UK on the junior stock market, Aim, in 2021 despite not having operations in the country. Pagefield will be its first acquisition outside the US.

PPHC offers policy advisory services to more than 1,200 clients in the US in healthcare and pharmaceuticals, financial services, energy, technology and telecoms. Many are international groups that will also face policy issues in other parts of the world. 

Stewart Hall, chief executive of PPHC, said its “clients are global by nature, present in multiple geographies and it is essential that we can support them wherever they operate”. He added that it had a “healthy . . . pipeline of acquisition opportunities”.

Pagefield, which has more than 350 clients, will be acquired for about £30mn in cash and shares, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Gallagher is a well-known lobbyist and communications chief who has worked closely with clients, including Britain’s Royal family. 

Oliver Foster, chief executive of Pagefield, said the “next phase in our growth will open up a huge well of professional — and international — expertise to our clients”.

The deal is the latest example of a UK PR firm being sold to rivals. The sector has in particular attracted investment from private equity firms in the past few years.

London-based Tulchan Communications, the firm headed by Andrew Grant, was sold to Teneo, the global advisory firm part owned by CVC, while Powerscourt was sold to Morrow Sodali, a communications and investor relations firm backed by private equity group TPG. Last year, KKR bought a stake in FGS Global.

However, PR agency bosses also say there is an increasing number of founder-led smaller firms seeking to sell their businesses, citing worries that the market is set to be heavily hit by the introduction of AI that could replace many of the more basic functions of their firms.

Firms instead expect to invest more heavily in adding value through consultancy work such as due diligence and regulatory advisory services.