Advertising, public relations firms merge

Kevin Rademacher

Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

A major merger that shook up the Las Vegas advertising and public relations industry on Wednesday is likely to lead to additional expansion.

R&R Partners Inc.'s announcement that it will merge with Brown & Partners Advertising and add the services of Reno-based political consultant Pete Ernaut was designed to strengthen the company's regional and national presence.

When the merger is completed Jan. 1, the resulting company will have 242 employees and $226 million in combined annual billings. No layoffs are expected, executives with the involved companies said.

"We are looking at this as the next big step in efforts to grow the business," said Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive of R&R Partners. "We have grown very much in the last seven, eight years, but we have not expanded our management team. We needed the additional senior management talent to grow particularly in the outside market."

With that, he said the company is more likely to be hiring additional employees.

The combined company's client list will include the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, MGM MIRAGE Advertising and Events, Bellagio, Caesars Entertainment, Mandalay Resort Group, Sierra Pacific Resources, Las Vegas Monorail, Regional Transportation Commission, National Bank of Arizona, Utah Transit Authority and the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino.

With the market share R&R already holds in Southern Nevada, additional local expansion would mean conflicts among clients. Immediate areas of growth are likely to take place around R&R's existing offices in Phoenix and Salt Lake City. The company also has an office in Reno and Washington, D.C.

Mark Brown, president of Brown & Partners, will become president of R&R Partners. Ernaut will become president of R&R Partners' Public Affairs Division, based at R&R's Reno office.

Brown agreed with Vassiliadis' assessment on growth.

"Going forward, our growth potential is now on a regional and national level," he said.

Brown & Partners will continue to operate as a stand-alone company in its current offices. Chuck Johnston, chief operating officer for Brown & Partners, will become president of that company.

Brown said access to R&R's resources fills critical gaps for his firm. In the past, he said Brown & Partners would have to contract out for such services as research and event planning, sometimes to R&R.

"The whole merger provides us with additional resources and depth," Brown said. "Bringing these two teams together made a lot of sense."