Edelman Kenya Set to Acquire Gina Din Group for an Undisclosed Amount
Nairobi, 14 December 2019: Gina Din Corporate Communications, one of Kenya’s pioneer PR agencies, and now known as Gina Din Group – is set to be acquired by Edelman Kenya for an undisclosed amount.
In case the planned acquisition is successful, it will mark the end of a brand that dates back to its founding days in October 1997 by Gina Din-Kariuki. She started the company shortly after leaving her Communications Manager job at Barclays Bank of Kenya.
According to a notice published in the newspapers on December 14, 2019, the PR and marketing consultancy business carried out by Gina Din Corporate Communications will be transferred to Edelman Kenya as part of the terms of a business and asset transfer agreement entered by the two parties on December 13, 2019.
“In the event that that the conditions precedent to the agreement are fulfilled, the transferee (Edelman) intends to carry on the business from its offices. All the money debts or liabilities due and owed by the transferrer (Gina Din) in respect of the public relations and marketing consultancy business up to the date of transfer as set out above shall be received and paid by the transferrer. Save as specifically provided in the agreement, the transferee shall not assume nor is it intended to assume any liabilities incurred by the transferrer in the business up to the date of the transfer,” states the notice.
The Gina Din Group was the first PR agency to handle the Safaricom account when the telco launched in early 2000’s.
In March last year, the firm appointed Lorna Irungu – Macharia as the agency’s new MD, replacing Eddie Wachira who held the position for a short but tumultuous stint between 2013 to 2014.
With Lorna being in charge of the day-to-day operations at the firm, Gina Din Kariuki, as executive chair, retained her role of providing overall strategy and guidance to the group while dedicating more time to the Gina Din Foundation.
Apart from Safaricom, the Gina Din Group, previously handled a number of technology and ICT clients in its 20-year history. Among these are Ericsson, MTN Business, Zuku, Telkom Orange Kenya (now Telkom Kenya), UUNET, Huawei, LG, Ericsson, Zuku and Seacom.
Apart from It and tech clients, Gina Din has also been retained by KCB Group, East Africa Breweries, Capital Markets Authority, Emirates, Kenya Red Cross, Bollore and Ecobank among others.
The firm also served as the training ground for many PR professionals – some of whom have since left for greener pastures or set up their own outfits – by providing them with an opportunity to learn the ropes of the trade while on the job.
In August 2013, Gina Din Corporate Communications partnered with Weber Shandwick, a global PR firm in a deal meant to help the two agencies grow their footprints in Africa.
Edelman, a global communications firm with its head quarters in US, has a staff over of 6,000 people serving clients in more than 60 offices. Since it was founded in 1952 by Dan Edelman, it has remained an independent, family-run company.
The firm has served a number of global brands including Asics, Taco Bell, HP, KFC, LinkedIn, Adobe, Nasdaq, Unilever, PayPal and Sanofi.
Source: https://aptantech.com/
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