Clareville PR acquired by CI Group

International B2B and consumer PR consultancy Clareville, which boasts the IMEX Group and the German and Thailand Convention Bureaux among its industry clients, has been acquired by the CI Group. The value of the transaction has not been revealed and Clareville will now become the CI Group’s PR partner.

Clareville was established 30 years ago by John Starr and Val Mumby and is based in London with staff also in North America, Germany and the Middle East. This acquisition takes the CI Group closer to its target of £20m (US$25.95m) a year turnover and £5m gross margin by the end of 2020. It follows the earlier acquisition of data analytics consultancy Pearl Analytics and digital marketing specialists CI. Diginut. The full-service integrated communications business now comprises six agencies and John Starr, co-founder and MD of Clareville told CMW Clareville would be joining the central London office of CI “shortly”. He added that there would be no changes of staff as a result of the sale and that Alison Ledger would be joining part time, working on the Maritim, HBAA and Wyboston Lakes Resort accounts. Starr added: “For quite a while we’ve been wanting to offer a wider range of services to the market by partnering with a bigger organisation with compatible but not competing skills. “After working together with the CI Group agencies on projects on an informal basis for several months, we’ve formalised the arrangement and become part of the Group.” David Watt, CEO of the CI Group added (pictured top): “The Clareville team and their talents have added a new extra dimension to our wide range of communications expertise, skills that will be valuable to many of the Group’s clients. “It’s an exciting addition but not, I expect, the last. We continue to search for talent, skills and expertise.” Corporate Innovations started 20 years ago when David Watt led the business specialising in live brand experiences. It quickly grew into an experiential, rewards and promotional business.