MIAMI—Corporate and public affairs expert Stephen Lock, the former head of public affairs of Edelman in Asia and Eurasia managing director at Grayling, is joining Latin America specialist Speyside Corporate Relations to head the firm’s fast-growing Brazil business.

Lock has worked extensively on major cross-border M&A and IPO mandates, international litigation and crisis PR, and complex free trade issues.

Speyside was founded by Alistair McLeish and Ian Herbison in 2008. Herbison and Lock were both members of the highly successful management team Alistair McLeish assembled to create Mmd, a corporate affairs business across Central and Eastern Europe.

The firm has recently added senior leaders including Jana Nelson, former senior US State Department officer, as country manager for Mexico; and David Ross, latterly from MHP Communications, country manager for Colombia.  

Client wins over the last year include Alibaba, Astellas, Bayer, BG Group, BlackRock, Bridgestone, Facebook, FedEx, GoDaddy, Latin American Consumer Health Association, Latin American Internet Association, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Shire, Syngenta and ThyssenKrupp. Existing clients include BlackBerry, Amgen, Southwest Airlines, Kinross Gold Corporation and Visa.