LONDON—Publicis Groupe has acquired UK sustainability communications firm Salterbaxter, which will sit within the MSLGroup PR brand.

With 70 employees, Salterbaxter handles sustainability strategy and communication for a number of clients, including Adidas, Anglo American, BP, BSkyB, LEGO, Maersk and Thomson Reuters.

Salterbaxter will form part of MSLGroup's global corporate and brand citizenship practice. Operating as Salterbaxter MSLGroup, the firm will retain its existing management team of Nigel Salter as CEO and Penny Baxter as managing director.

Salter will also become the EMEA head for MSLGROUP’s corporate and brand citizenship practice, working with Scott Beaudoin, global leader of the global practice.

“The issues of sustainability, transparency, trust, accountability, social purpose and long-term value creation increasingly shape how business intersects with society," said Anders Kempe, president of MSLGroup in EMEA. 

The deal sustains the hectic pace of acquisition at MSLGroup, which has now bought 12 agencies around the world in the past five years. 

Clarity, the corporate finance firm, advised SalterBaxter on the transaction.

“The combination offers us everything we were looking for to help us better serve the interests of our global client base as well as giving us an even better platform to fulfill the ambitions of our people,” added Penny Baxter, co-founder of Salterbaxter.