Burson is the communications agency WPP formed by merging BCW and Hill & Knowlton, operational from July 1, 2024. Its predecessor, Burson-Marsteller, worked in the Middle East through ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller. This page separates the Middle East claims that public sources confirm from those that are reported, disputed or unverified.
Burson is the agency WPP created by combining BCW and Hill & Knowlton, with more than 6,000 employees in 43 markets. WPP announced the merger on January 25, 2024, and its announcement of the Burson merger says the name honors the late Harold Burson.
EPR's Burson agency profile and WPP PR firm history cover the corporate lineage in more detail.
How did Burson-Marsteller work in the Middle East?
Burson-Marsteller worked in the Middle East through its regional agency, ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller. The Arab politics blog al-Bab reported in 2012, citing a reader's note, that ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller was hired by the UAE government in 2001 to manage communications for a Federal National Council election.
Government work for foreign clients is best checked against filings. The Holmes Report notes that U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings are required for foreign-government activity that attempts to influence the U.S. government.
Did Burson-Marsteller represent Bahrain in 2011?
Reports from March 2011 name Edelman, Bell Pottinger, Qorvis and Potomac Square Group among Bahrain's PR firms, and none of them names Burson-Marsteller. The Holmes Report reported that Edelman's U.S. assignment for Bahrain's Economic Development Board was suspended and that Bell Pottinger led the global account.
A second Holmes Report article said Potomac Square Group was appointed in February 2011 to advise the Embassy of Bahrain in the U.S., and that FARA filings showed Qorvis subcontracted by Bell Pottinger. EPR's earlier version of this page described a Burson-Marsteller Bahrain engagement, and that claim is withdrawn until a filing supports it.
What did a 2014 op-ed report about Tunisia and Israel?
A 2014 New York Observer op-ed by Ronn Torossian reported that Burson-Marsteller accepted a communications engagement from Tunisia's Ennahda-led government after rejecting a $3.5 million engagement from the State of Israel. EPR attributes both claims to that op-ed and has not confirmed the engagement figures independently.
The claim matters for a broader reason: every agency's choice of which governments to represent becomes part of its public record in the markets it wants to enter next.
What did Saudi Aramco's 2019 IPO involve?
Saudi Aramco raised $25.6 billion in its December 2019 IPO at a $1.7 trillion valuation, then the largest IPO on record. A Reuters-sourced Business Standard report said Saudi Arabia sold a 1.5 percent stake to Saudi investors and wealthy Gulf allies after international institutions balked, and that Aramco dropped roadshows in New York and London.
EPR has not confirmed which agencies advised on the IPO. Burson-Marsteller's role is not established in the sources reviewed, so this page does not assign it one.
How did the Khashoggi killing affect Gulf PR accounts?
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, and Saudi Arabia faced international criticism afterward, as the same Reuters-sourced report notes. EPR's file on Ketchum, Qorvis and MSL Group tracks the Western firms that kept Gulf government accounts under human-rights scrutiny.
What does the public record confirm?
The public record confirms the corporate lineage and the Aramco figures, and it leaves the individual government accounts below unconfirmed.
| Claim | Status | Basis |
|---|
| BCW and Hill & Knowlton merged into Burson, operational July 1, 2024 | Confirmed | WPP announcement |
| Aramco raised $25.6 billion at a $1.7 trillion valuation in December 2019 | Confirmed | Reuters-sourced Business Standard report |
| ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller hired by the UAE government in 2001 | Reported by al-Bab in 2012, citing a reader's note | al-Bab blog post |
| Burson-Marsteller represented Bahrain in 2011 | Not found in the March 2011 reporting reviewed | Holmes Report articles |
| Tunisia engagement and a rejected $3.5 million Israel engagement | Reported in a 2014 op-ed, not independently confirmed | New York Observer op-ed by Ronn Torossian |
| Burson-Marsteller role in the Aramco IPO | Not established in sources reviewed | No source found |
| Burson-Marsteller work for Egypt under SCAF, 2011 to 2013 | Not established in sources reviewed | No source found |
Why does a PR firm's client list matter?
A PR firm's client list becomes part of the public record that buyers, journalists and regulators consult. Anyone running diligence on an agency can check FARA filings, trade press such as the Holmes Report and EPR's own agency profiles, and an unsupported claim in any of them follows the firm.
Check each Middle East claim about an agency against a filing or a named report before relying on it. That is the standard this page now applies to Burson.
Last updated October 6, 2026.
