Vancouver-based Switchboard Public Relations has been acquired by the national communications and government relations firm Earnscliffe Strategies.
Both companies announced the deal Tuesday (Jan. 17). Switchboard will maintain its brand as its team of four full-time employees joins Earnscliffe.
Craig Robinson, CEO of Earnscliffe, told BIV that the deal is part of a broad growth strategy.
“We are a growing firm, we are looking to continue to scale up,” Robinson said.
Earnscliffe has 20 employees based in British Columbia who primarily work out of the firm’s Vancouver office. Robinson said the agency’s B.C. team punches above its weight relative to operations in other areas.
“It’s an outsized market for us,” he said.
Kathleen Reid, founder of Switchboard Public Relations, said the deal will enable both companies to offer more integrated communications and public relations solutions to clients.
“For us, having access to folks on the ground in Toronto and Ottawa markets… it's fantastic,” she said.
Switchboard’s current clients include the BC Tech Association, entrepreneurship@UBC and MintList.
Reid, a 2020 recipient of BIV’s Forty under 40 Award, joined Earnscliffe as a principal and partner effective Jan. 1, the deal’s closing date.
The dollar value of the deal has not been disclosed.
“It feels like a win for all and I feel like that's the beautiful part – that our cultures mix so nicely together,” Reid said. “It's a win for the team, a win for me – and that I can take a little breathing room on a parental leave – a win for our clients.”
Robinson added that a major source of value was the addition Switchboard’s team.
“Revenue is one way to price the transaction, but the real value of these transactions is the people,” he said.
“Kathleen has built a really strong team, and to be able to have access to that level of talent was just was phenomenal.”
