The Lede Company Acquires OBCM

Public relations firm The Lede Company is acquiring Olivier Bourgis Communication and Marketing, better known as OBCM.

The move unites Lede, a New York-based company with roots in Hollywood and a client roster that includes Penelope Cruz, Reese Witherspoon and Rihanna, with OBCM, a fashion-centric agency based in Paris that has worked with clients such as Adidas and Browns, as the fashion and entertainment sectors increasingly overlap with one another. That connection was on display this week, when the two agencies worked together on the debut runway show from Louis Vuitton’s new menswear designer, Pharrell Williams, a Lede client.

“With partners, it’s about meeting the right people, and when I met Christine [Su, The Lede Company’s co-CEO] and the team, I felt like we’re exactly on the same page, in the way we approach clients and the future of the agency,” Bourgis told BoF.

Going forward, OBCM will be known as Lede Paris, and Bourgis will serve as its managing director. He will report to Lede’s four co-CEOs: Su, Amanda Silverman, Meredith O’Sullivan and Sarah Rothman.

For Lede, the move comes as the company looks to expand internationally. Last year, it opened an office in London, in addition to the ones it already operated in New York and Los Angeles. Paris’ position as the epicentre of luxury fashion, as well as the host city for the 2024 Olympics, made teaming up with a company that was already well-versed in the market an appealing prospect — particularly because of Bourgis’ prior knowledge of the intricacies of operating a company in France. Bourgis, meanwhile, will benefit from Lede’s larger scale and deeper well of resoruces.

“Having staff and people’s eyes and ears on the ground in Paris is really important to us, because it’s such an important part of fashion,” said Su. “And we’ll be able to help Olivier expand his offerings, and to be able to really be more 360 and be able to bring him more clients.”