BOSTON — Lewis PR has acquired the Davies Murphy Group (DMG), bolstering Lewis to a $45 million agency globally, with a wider array of marketing services and a stronger foothold on the US East Coast.

The deal is intended to make UK-based Lewis more competitive in the US tech market, as well as scaling into other verticals, said Lewis EVP Morgan McLintic.

Lewis has been in growth mode this year, announcing 10 new international offices and expanding its digital offering into six new markets. This is its second major US acquisition after buying the Silicon Valley digital shop, Page One, in 2010. 

The DMG acquisition brings Lewis’ US revenues up to $20 million. The deal closed on May 31.   

Founded in 1998 by Eric Davies and Andy Murphy in Boston, DMG works across several b2b verticals primarily with tech companies, including SafeNet and GFI Software.

In 2012, DMG had $9 million in revenues and while it has additional offices in the UK and Germany, the bulk of its 65-person team resides in Boston. The firm already shares some clients with Lewis.

The move gives Lewis an inroad into broader marketing services, like lead generation campaigns, market research, direct email and events support, adding another layer onto the agency’s digital arm, Lewis Pulse, that specializes in SEO, ad words and social media.

While DMG will retain an independent profit-and-loss through the principals' earnouts, Lewis will begin integrating its $2 million, 10-person Boston office with DMG, ultimately moving the firm under the Lewis branding.

Davies and Murphy will report into McLintic and work alongside Claire Rowberry, SVP of Lewis Boston, for the integration.

“There are some small [operational] differences but 80 percent of what we do is the same,” McLintic said.

DMG is known for staffing accounts primarily with senior people, eschewing new business quotas for management and eliminating the traditional “mark-up” expenses to clients.

No personnel changes are planned with the acquisition, noted McLintic.