New partners in Spain and Turkey, new PR office expands Brussels operations.

Dusseldorf, May 3rd, 2005. Pleon, the leading European communications consultancy, has recently expanded its operations and made a string of new partnerships in Europe. Just six months after the company was formed, it has now announced new partnerships in Spain and Turkey, and opened a PR office alongside its existing public affairs operation in Brussels. The company has also stated that its 2004 revenues have exceeded its target of € 75 million.

The recent extension of its Brussels office to include all communications activity – Pleon’s specialist public affairs team has been based there for five years – underlines Pleon’s position as a key player in European communications. Pleon president Alex Schoep said: “this new arm, under general manager Anja Verheij – a long-term partner in Pleon’s Amsterdam office – will create a strong basis for building business with the European institutions in addition to the Belgian business market.”

With the announcement of its partnership with Turkey’s largest PR consultancy, Bersay Communications, Pleon has also staked its claim to a significant piece of business expected to come from that country’s bid to join the European Union. Bersay, has 90 experienced consultants in offices in Istanbul and Ankara, and thereby enables Pleon and its Brodeur|Pleon Worldwide network access to a wide range of potential business opportunities. Turkey itself is experiencing record growth, at 9.9 per cent last year and the PR sector alone is estimated to grow 40 per cent this year, following 20 per cent growth in 2004.

Pleon CEO Rainer Zimmermann said that a major focus for the partnership will be helping Turkish companies work with European institutions and with the European business community: “just about every sector of Turkish business, as well as their public institutions, wants to find ways of building closer links with Europe. We are ideally positioned to help them through our strong public affairs capability, as well as being able, through Bersay, to open up the rapidly-growing Turkish market to European businesses”.

Pleon has also announced a new partnership in Spain with the addition of Medialuna Comunicacion to the Brodeur|Pleon Worldwide network. The Madrid-based agency is one of Spain’s fastest-growing consultancies. Since its foundation five years ago, it has built a team of 20 consultants and a strong client base across many markets: financial services, consumer, healthcare and the public sector. Founder and principal Mercedes Pescador said that Medialuna will be working with Pleon across all aspects of communications including public relations, public affairs and corporate and marketing communications. She commented: “aligning Medialuna with a leading European consultancy is a key part of our continuing growth strategy. We are now talking to Spanish businesses and institutions wanting to play on the European and global stage. The relationship with Pleon is already bearing fruit as they are bringing us clients who want to extend their business in Spain.”

About Pleon

Pleon (www.pleon.com) is an international consulting firm with European roots, which creates and implements strategies for private and public sector organisations around the world. With deep understanding of business, politics and communications, Pleon is uniquely placed to devise compelling solutions that deliver measurable and tangible results. Pleon is part of the Brodeur|Pleon Worldwide network and has a presence throughout the US, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Pleon represents the merger of Brodeur agencies in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and UK with the ECC Group, including market leaders ECC KohtesKlewes in Germany and Belgium, and ECC Publico in Austria. Pleon and Brodeur (www.brodeur.com) are part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

For more information, please contact:

Pleon
Dr. Stephanie Altemoeller
Tel: +49-211-9541-2124
Fax: +49-211-9541-2200
E-Mail: Stephanie.Altemoeller(at)pleon.com
Web: www.pleon.com