SINGAPORE—Ketchum has acquired long-term Singapore affiliate Icon Communications.

The Singapore firm, of which Ketchum has acquired 100%, will be branded Ketchum ICON.

Icon’s Australian and Indonesian operations, which operate separately from Singapore, will remain part of Ketchum’s affiliate network.

The acquisition builds on Ketchum’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years. In 2011, the firm took a majority position in its long-established Greater China operations as well as in India. Earlier this year, Ketchum merged with Korea's InComm Brodeur. 

"With an extraordinary growth trajectory, Singapore is a market of significant strategic importance to Ketchum’s multinational client base, many of which have regional headquarters in the country, and it is vital that we continue to evolve our business in a way that complements their needs,” said Rob Flaherty, senior partner and CEO of Ketchum.

“We already work closely with Icon to service some of our largest and most geographically diverse clients in the Asia-Pacific region. Operating as part of one firm greatly enhances our combined ability to provide clients with local knowledge and international expertise, service and support.”

Launched by John Bailey in Singapore in 2005, Icon offers a broad range of services but is particularly noted for its crisis management capabilities, due largely to an exclusive partnership with Kenyon International Emergency Services. Ketchum inked its own partnership with Kenyon in 2012.

Bailey will continue to lead the Singapore business, reporting to Jon Higgins, senior partner and international CEO at Ketchum.

Bailey said: “Our Singapore operation rapidly established itself as one of the leading mid-sized independent agencies in a very crowded market. Joining forces with a global powerhouse like Ketchum will help us to take our business even further, in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere.”