DUBAI — Publicis Communications has rebranded its six LeoComm offices in the Middle East as MSLGroup.

The consolidation of the Middle Eastern PR network under the MSLGroup brand comes four years after MS&L Middle East became LeoComm, a move intended to align it more closely with its Leo Burnett parent group.

MSLGroup Middle East will now sit alongside other Publicis Communications agencies in the region, including Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Flip Media, Arc, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Originally launched in 2001, LeoComm had grown to six offices in the region — UAE (Dubai), Egypt (Cairo), Lebanon (Beirut), Qatar (Doha), and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh and Jeddah) — working for such clients as P&G, GM, Boston Consulting Group and Samsung.

"In recent years, LeoComm PR has built a strong legacy of growth, one rooted in a powerful ‘think global, act local’ communications strategy," said Publicis Communications Middle East and Africa CEO Raj Trad. "Today, the agency’s new identity will help further crystallize this approach and cement its mission to deliver fully-integrated, all-encompassing public relations services."

The MSLGroup Middle East network is led by regional MD Ajit Ramaswami, who previously served as LeoComm MD.

The Middle East expansion marks the sixth time since the start of the new year that MSLGroup has added new markets or offices to its global network. Arc PR operations in Sri Lanka and the Philippines have rebranded as MSLGroup, while the network has also acquired Venus Communications in Vietnam and created Quadrant MSLGroup in Nigeria via  Publicis Groupe’s equity partnership with The Troyka Group in West Africa.

In addition, MSLGroup’s PublicisLive unit has also opened an Eurasia hub in Turkey and combined the reputation and communications practice of Leo Burnett in Chicago with the MSLGroup office there, naming Amy Chernois as MD.