NEW YORK—MDC Partners has acquired a majority partnership interest in consumer public relations firm Hunter Public Relations. Hunter, the current Holmes Report Consumer Consultancy of the Year, joins MDC’s portfolio of leading public relations brands including Allison+Partners, Exponent, Kwittken, Sloane & Company, and Canadian firm Veritas.   

Founded in 1989 as a PR agency specializing in food and nutrition, Hunter today offers expertise in the food and beverage, wine and spirits, home and lifestyle, pet care, and health and beauty industries. It will continue to be led by partners Grace Leong, Jon Lyon and Jason Winocour. They lead a team of 100 people located in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Miami.

MDC chairman and CEO Miles Nadal, hailed the firm’s “heritage of driving exceptional PR results for some of today's most respected consumer brands,” as well as its “expertise in marketing communications, media relations, events, and social media.” It has also launched practices in Hispanic marketing, social and digital, and entertainment marketing in recent years.

The firm’s longtime clients include Tabasco Pepper Sauce, E&J Gallo Winery, Kraft Foods, and 3M, and it has expanded its client roster to include other category leaders such as McNeil, Diageo, Post and Smithfield. Fee income last year was around $18.4 million, up better than 25 percent and enough to rank Hunter among the 100 largest firms in the world.