PR Agency News: Latest Deals, Hires and Agency Moves

PR agency news in October 2026 was led by senior hires, two deals and a reported sale exploration at Burson. Brunswick, APCO, Sanctuary and Clarity Global each added senior leaders in the first two weeks, Golin Ketchum won a CDC campaign worth at least $65 million, and FGS Global and AA24 announced deals, according to PRWeek and O'Dwyer's.

By the Everything-PR Editorial Team. Updated October 19, 2026.

Which PR agency moves happened from October 1 to 12, 2026?

PRWeek reported nine agency moves between October 1 and October 12, 2026: five hires or role changes, one office opening, one alliance, one contract win and one holding company exit. Everything-PR's full breakdown is in PR Agency Moves: Brunswick, APCO, Prosek, WPP Hires.

Agency	Move	Reported
Clarity Global	Bob Osmond named first North America managing partner	Oct 1
WPP	Jon Cook, global CEO of VML and CEO of WPP Creative, announces his exit	Oct 2
Brunswick	Ramiro Prudencio joins as a London partner	Oct 6
Prosek Partners	San Francisco office opens, led by partner Nadia Damouni	Oct 6
Sanctuary	Jenny Davey, a 15-year FGS Global crisis specialist, set to become partner	Oct 6
Golin Ketchum	Wins CDC national tobacco education campaign, $65 million minimum	Oct 6
Hoffman Agency	Strategic alliance with United Partners Network	Oct 7
WPP Creative	Names a new CEO to replace Cook	Oct 9
APCO	Kelly Williamson becomes first chief client officer	Oct 12

Profiles of the firms involved: Brunswick Group, Prosek Partners, Golin Ketchum and APCO's founder, Margery Kraus.

Which PR agency deals were announced in October 2026?

O'Dwyer's reported two PR firm deals in mid-October 2026. FGS Global acquired The Russell Group on October 15, and AA24 Communications took a majority stake in Slowey McManus Communications on October 13, with AA24's founder and managing partner Adi Sarosa making the investment.

Deal volume is rising. Everything-PR's weekly briefing cites Davis+Gilbert's mid-year tracker, which counted 44 completed PR deals in the first half of 2026, an increase of more than 20% on the prior year. The weekly PR news briefing carries the running record.

What is the status of the Burson sale?

WPP is exploring a sale of Burson, and no buyer has been confirmed. Everything-PR's PR agency M&A tracker records Goldman Sachs as adviser and puts WPP's 2025 PR-segment revenue, which covers all of WPP's PR brands and not Burson alone, at about 667 million pounds; Burson has roughly 6,000 staff.

The sale talk comes as Burson London was named PR Agency of the Year at the 2026 Cannes Lions, covered in the Cannes Lions PR guide.

How did Omnicom's Interpublic deal change the PR agency map?

Omnicom's acquisition of Interpublic Group, which closed on November 26, 2025 at about $13.25 billion, created the world's largest advertising holding company and put Weber Shandwick, Golin and other PR networks under one parent. The first major PR-side consolidation followed on February 10, 2026, when Golin and Ketchum combined as Golin Ketchum, per Everything-PR's tracker and its Omnicom Group profile.

Where can I follow PR agency news?

Everything-PR tracks agency news in four places, each with a different job.

• PR News This Week carries the weekly running scroll of agency moves, deals and hires.
• The PR agency M&A tracker records acquisitions and holding company moves.
• The PR firms directory lists agency profiles by name, specialty and region.
• The ranked index of PR firms tiers firms by revenue, reach and reputation.