Publicis Buys Washington PR Firm and Pollster Clarus

Marketing services giant Publicis Groupe has acquired Washington, DC-based PR agency Qorvis Communications, for an undisclosed sum. The buy includes public affairs analyst Clarus Research Group.

Qorvis, and Clarus, will become part of Publicis' MSLGroup subsidiary. Clarus is led by Ronald A. Faucheux, a former state legislator and Secretary of Commerce in Louisiana, and former Editor and publisher of Campaigns & Elections magazine. Faucheux will now play a leading in MSL North America's planning and analytics offering, according to the group.

The combined PR operation in Washington, D.C. will be known as Qorvis MSLGroup, and will be led by Qorvis founder and Managing Partner Michael Petruzzello. Qorvis has around eighty staff at present. Renee Wilson, President of MSLGroup North America, says the Qorvis buy allows the firm to bring clients around the world 'important new relationships and capabilities inside the Beltway and beyond'.

Clarus, which provides quant and qual full service research and is perhaps best known for political polling, is online at www.clarusrg.com .