MUNICH--Highly-rated German corporate and financial firm CNC is to become part of MSLGroup following its acquisition by Publicis Groupe today.

CNC will retain its branding and remain led by CEO Christoph Walther. MSLGroup EMEA president Anders Kempe becomes chairman of the German firm, and is joined on its board by MSLGroup global CEO Olivier Fleurot.

The deal takes MSLGroup's EMEA revenues to upwards of €150m, suggesting it is now the biggest firm in this particular region. It marks the 10th deal in a two-year MSLGroup buying spree that has included agency acquisitions in India, China, Brazil and the US, as Fleurot attempts to fashion a global network of scale out of Publicis Groupe's PR operations.

"CNC is one of the premier strategic and financial public relations firms in Europe, with a client base that is outstanding," said Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy in a statement. "I have followed CNC's success story with interest and I am impressed by the company's entrepreneurial spirit. The skill set will fit perfectly into our group and our strategy to make Germany one of our key hubs."

CNC was founded in 2002 as a management consultancy specializing in communications, working with clients on issues at the nexus between corporate strategy and reputation, focused on financial, political, and public audiences.

Alongside former DaimlerChrysler comms chief Walther, the firm is led by partner Roland Klein, who previously headed global communications at Ericsson, and Siegmar Mosdorf, a former member of the German Bundestag and parliamentary state secretary to the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology.

The firm now has more than 100 people (about half of them in the German headquarters), spread across 14 offices in Europe, the US, Brazil, China and India. The firm is an investor relations leader in the German IPO and M&A markets, and is understood to be worth around €25m.

"Bringing CNC into MSLGroup makes us one of the top three networks in Germany, and at the same time gives us very valuable additional strategic capabilities in other key markets," added Fleurot. "We see considerable potential in matching and leveraging our collective competencies and relationships."

MSLGroup's German operation will remain headed by CEO Wigan Salazar.