Ex-Brunswick partner Lipin starts advisory firm Gladstone Place

STEVE Lipin, who advised on some of the world’s biggest takeovers as a senior partner at Brunswick Group, is launching his own corporate communications firm called Gladstone Place Partners.

New York-based Gladstone Place will specialise in financial communications, corporate reputation and strategic positioning, issues management and corporate governance communications, according to a statement.

Lipin, who will be chairman and chief executive officer, has recruited former US ambassador to the UK Louis Susman as a senior adviser. He’ll be joined by former journalists and communications professionals from firms such as Brunswick, Prosek Partners and Finsbury.

Social and digital media will be a core part of the new firm’s strategy, according to the release. Gladstone Place’s name stems from the street in Montauk where Lipin has a house.

“The demands faced by companies today are unprecedented, stemming from a hyper-connected social media environment, increased competition for talent and capital, and pressures from regulators, critics and others,” Lipin says in the statement. “We are hitting the ground running.”

Lipin left Brunswick in April after more than a decade at the firm, having advised companies on everything from M&A to activist defence. He worked for companies including Pfizer Inc and 3G Capital Inc, as well as providing communications advice to Anheuser-Busch InBev NV on its US$103bil deal to acquire British brewer SABMiller Plc.

Prior to Brunswick, Lipin spent 17 years in business journalism, including 10 at the Wall Street Journal where he was finance editor and covered mergers and acquisitions.

“It was a great run what I and we accomplished at Brunswick but I’m very excited about doing something entrepreneurial in more of a boutique set up,” Lipin said in a phone interview. — Bloomberg