Fishawack buys JK Associates
pharmafile | April 4, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications | 1010 Digital., Arbor Communications, Endpoint Medical Communications, JK Medical Communications, fishawack, jk associates
Medical communications firm Fishawack has acquired JK Associates in a bid to significantly expand the company’s presence in the US.
JK Associates operates under the JK Medical Communications, Arbor Communications, and Endpoint Medical Communications brands, as well as 1010 Digital.
With teams based in Philadelphia and Ann Arbor, JK adds to the Fishawack Communications team already based in Philadelphia.
“Along with what is now Fishawack Communications, this is our second US acquisition,” says Oliver Dennis, chief executive of the Fishawack Group.
“Clients want integrated agencies that can work together across geographies on global accounts when required. When we discussed the synergies between us it was obvious – Fishawack needed more depth in the US and JK needed a European-based team with greater resources.”
John Czekanski, president and chief executive of JK, adds: “We first worked with Fishawack in 2004 on a joint business pitch. We were so impressed then that we thought we might join-up one day. Ten years later and we have. Kevin and I are excited to continue managing the day-to-day operations of JK and look forward to joining the Fishawack board.”
Gail Flockhart, group managing director of Fishawack, explains: “Our business model is to have critical mass co-located with our clients with UK-based support for when scale is needed.
“This means that in medical communications, the ideal agency profile is one with critical mass in three key locations: the US, the UK, and Switzerland. Fishawack is truly unique in this regard.”
Dominic Miller, Fishawack’s chief financial officer, adds: “We have a tremendous investment partner in GCP (Growth Capital Partners) and together we plan further expansion.
“We would like to thank Ruth Percival and James Fieldhouse of BDO (Manchester, UK) for corporate finance lead advisory, Craig Scott and Michael Murphy of Hill Dickinson LLP (Liverpool, UK) who provided legal oversight of all aspects of the transaction, and Malcolm Sandilands of Dickstein Shapiro (Washington DC, US) for lead US legal support.”
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