BRUSSELS — Business strategy and communications consultancy BoldT, which has already opened four European offices since it was set up seven months ago, has formed a strategic partnership with two US public affairs firms.

BoldT's new partners are Ibex Partners, an international public affairs firm based in Washington, DC and Summit Strategy Group, a California-based public affairs and corporate communications firm. The partnership will enable all three consultancies to offer public affairs and communications services across Europe and the US.

Ibex was set up last month by former US diplomat Michael Sessums and public affairs veteran Michael Law, both of whom have worked at Burson-Marsteller alongside BoldT managing partner and former Burson-Marsteller EMEA CEO Jeremy Galbraith.

Galbraith told the Holmes Report that the three agencies would work together with existing clients looking for support on the other side of the Atlantic, as well as seeking new clients together. He said: “Many of our first clients have been looking for a global reach and linking up with Ibex and Summit helps us provide that. They share BoldT’s view that clients are increasingly looking for partners with senior teams that provide strategic counsel and well-executed campaigns that deliver meaningful results with impact, rather than commodity PR and public affairs.”

Ibex managing partner Sessums said the partnership was a good fit: “Our clients need a team that can deliver integrated services across the Atlantic. BoldT shares Ibex’s commitment to agile, client-centred service, and we know Jeremy Galbraith as a skilful and client-focused senior counsellor from years of first-hand experience.”

Law (pictured), president and CEO at Ibex Partners and CEO and founder of Summit Strategy Group, added: “The international business and political landscapes have changed over the past two years and require a more agile approach to managing domestic and foreign policy matters. Linking Washington and Brussels adds a critical new capability for our international clients. And as the political environment in the U.S. becomes more polarised, international clients are looking for the unique insights and perspective about California and the Western United States that Summit Strategy Group provides.”

BoldT was set up by Galbraith and former Bayer comms chief Herbert Heitmann in Brussels and Cologne in October 2017. They were joined by ex-MEP Michiel van Hulten as a founding partner, followed by former Burson-Marsteller Norway CEO Morten Pettersen, who is leading the agency’s new Nordic business from Oslo, and former CEO of Burson-Marsteller Switzerland, Matthias Graf, to lead the DACH region from Zurich.