New hires strengthen the firm’s capital markets and strategic advisory services

NEW YORK, March 4, 2025 – Burson Buchanan, the strategic communications and financial markets advisory firm, today announced the appointment of two managing directors to its U.S. business: Claire Doan in San Francisco and Jake Yanulis in New York. Their appointments are effective March 3, 2025.

“Claire and Jake have significant experience advising clients through the most consequential, ‘bet the company’ opportunities and threats that businesses face,” said Matt Reid, U.S. CEO, Burson Buchanan. “Their expertise across M&A, litigation, government investigations, private equity and shareholder activism strengthen our strategic advisory capabilities. I have seen firsthand the expertise and dedication they bring to client assignments, and I’m delighted to continue that partnership as we grow Burson Buchanan in the U.S.”

Doan joins Burson Buchanan from H/Advisors Abernathy, where she was Managing Director and Head of Litigation, advising on myriad high-profile matters and crises for clients across a variety of industries, including technology, higher education and healthcare. Before that, she oversaw strategic communications and media relations for the University of California across its campuses and medical centers, spearheading communications strategy on sensitive matters such as litigation, cybersecurity, COVID-19 policies, labor disputes, student protests and the Varsity Blues admissions controversy. Doan is an Emmy- and Edward R. Murrow Award winner, having spent the early part of her career as an investigative journalist at stations in Sacramento, California, and Tucson, Arizona.

Yanulis comes to Burson Buchanan from H/Advisors Abernathy, where he served as a Managing Director, advising boards and management teams on effective communication and stakeholder engagement through periods of business transformation, including corporate transactions, shareholder activism defense and major crises. During a nearly decade-long tenure with his prior firm, he partnered with leading consumer companies, healthcare organizations and technology, media and telecommunications businesses to articulate shifts in strategy, execute industry-defining M&A transactions and protect and enhance corporate reputation amid unexpected external challenges.

About Burson Buchanan

Burson Buchanan provides strategic communications advisory services to help clients achieve their business and reputation goals. The firm specializes in advising companies on reaching critical financial and stakeholder audiences and to navigate major inflection points in their business. The firm’s key areas of expertise include financial communications, mergers & acquisitions, fund raisings and IPOs, spinoffs and demergers, activist defense, crisis and issues management, litigation communications, and regulatory issues/government investigations. Burson Buchanan is a member of Burson Group. Burson is part of WPP (LSE/NYSE: WPP), the creative transformation company.

“When I was appointed CEO of Landore, I wanted to make it clear that my tenure would be different. My desire was to be able to communicate the new Landore strategy and opportunity in an interactive way with shareholders. Therefore, I am delighted to be able to announce the launch of the new Landore website.”

Alexander Shaw, CEO of Landore Resources

Burson Buchanan’s creative team is proud to announce the launch of the new Landore Resources website. After receiving a brief for a rebrand and new corporate website, our team relished the opportunity to collaborate with Landore Resources, building a modern and informative platform that effectively showcases their exploration projects and overall company vision. 

From the timeline mapping out the targeted strategy for developing its highly accretive BAM Project, to detailed information on their team and Landore’s long-term goals, the focus was on creating a seamless and engaging user experience. We invite you to explore the new site and discover the potential of Landore Resources – now presented with clarity, style, and a user-friendly design. 

View the new website here

NEW YORK, December 9, 2024 – Burson, the global communications agency purpose-built to create value for clients through reputation, today announced that Matt Reid has joined strategic communications and financial markets advisory firm Burson Buchanan as U.S. CEO, effective December 2. Reid is based in Washington, D.C. and will oversee the expansion of the brand and business in the U.S. market. 

Reid uses his deep experience in financial and corporate communications, public affairs and crisis management to provide strategic counsel to clients facing “bet the company” opportunities and threats. His expertise includes managing financial transactions and issues; complex litigation matters and government investigations; policy and regulatory challenges; and major corporate crises. He has also managed communications for numerous corporate acquisitions, mergers and SPAC transactions. 

“Businesses are facing pressures from all quarters – both internal and external – that can create high-stakes threats, imperil reputation and undermine financial confidence,” said Corey duBrowa, Global CEO, Burson. “Matt brings a successful three-decade career in advising clients through myriad complexities, opportunities and strategic scenarios to protect and build reputation and optimize valuation. I benefitted from his steady hand and wise counsel during my time as a client and when we were colleagues at WE Communications, and know his considerable expertise will be a tremendous asset to our clients and potential clients as we build Burson Buchanan in the United States.” 

Before joining Burson Buchanan, Reid was Managing Director and Head of the Los Angeles office for H/Advisors Abernathy, as well as lead of the firm’s cybersecurity and litigation communications practices. He also contributed to the firm’s capital markets work in the U.S. and its global public affairs efforts. Prior to that, Reid was Managing Director and co-head of the Los Angeles office of Sard Verbinnen & Co. (now FGS Global), where he oversaw mergers & acquisitions, activist defence, executive transitions, crises, regulatory and litigation matters for clients across numerous industries, including technology, life sciences and education. Earlier, he was Senior Vice President, External Affairs for BSA | The Software Alliance, the leading global trade association for the software industry, where he oversaw global communications and government relations. He has also held senior corporate communications and public affairs roles at agencies including WE Communications, FleishmanHillard and GCI Group. He began his career working on high-profile political campaigns. 

“Burson Buchanan has a well-earned reputation in the UK across 30 years for helping clients manage issues, markets and corporate reputation to build stakeholder confidence and facilitate innovation and growth,” said Reid. “As a boutique strategic communications and financial markets advisory firm within Burson Group, we offer highly specialized expertise, backed by the resources of the global communications agency that set the gold standard for reputation management and strategic advisory. I couldn’t be more enthusiastic about what we’ll be able to achieve as we expand Burson Buchanan into the U.S.” 

About Burson 

Burson is the global communications leader built to create value for clients through reputation. With highly specialized teams, industry-leading technologies and breakthrough creative, we help brands and businesses redefine reputation as a competitive advantage so they can lead today and into the future. Burson is part of WPP (LSE/NYSE: WPP), the creative transformation company. Learn more at www.bursonglobal.com and www.bursonbuchanan.com. 

Burson Buchanan’s Financial Comms, Sustainability and Creative teams were engaged by Predictive Discovery (ASX:PDI) to once again produce their Annual Report. As Burson Buchanan provides ongoing advisory to the business, the teams were well placed to develop a report that demonstrates the progress the business has made in a year that has seen PDI make significant strides in advancing the Bankan Project swiftly and sustainably towards the development phase.

The ESG section of the report includes details of PDI’s successful completion of their Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), stakeholder engagement initiatives, and environmental stewardship efforts. The content particularly highlights PDI’s work with host communities and its commitment to environmental protection.

The report’s design aligns with PDI’s other communications, reflecting how ESG is integrated across the business, whilst also being a visually distinct document that emphasises the Company’s purpose.

View the report here.

Burson Buchanan has just produced and published the latest programme of stakeholder communications for The Rank Group plc.

This integrated suite extended our previous ESG mandate to include best practice advisory, content development, design and production of a new Group Corporate Website, Annual Report and Sustainability Report. 

Notable features within the project the scripting, storyboarding, art-direction and editing of a new corporate movie and series of management interviews for the website, along with the development of a Double Materiality Assessment and Net Zero Pathway for the Sustainability Report.

The programme provides the client with a progressive platform of consistent corporate information to engage audiences across a range of channels.

View the Annual report here

View the Sustainability report here

Burson Buchanan is delighted to have joined the London Stock Exchange Group Marketplace. This new membership provides an excellent opportunity to further engage with the London Stock Exchange’s global audience of members and forge meaningful relationships with a variety of different businesses.

Joining firms active in a number of sectors including financial and legal services, cyber security solutions, analytics and transaction services, Burson Buchanan adds decades of capital markets expertise and reputation advisory solutions to the wide variety of corporate services on offer on the marketplace.

The page highlights just some of our areas of focus.

With over 90 retained clients, from FTSE 100 to privately owned companies of all sizes, our 45 specialist consultants advise businesses on how to communicate effectively with their target stakeholders in order to optimise their valuations.

Burson Buchanan looks forward to taking part in the active exchange of thought leadership on the Marketplace platform including panels, articles and conferences. A video with senior members of the team is in production and will be published on Marketplace soon.

“We are pleased to announce Burson Buchanan’s latest partnership with the London Stock Exchange’s Marketplace as the latest new member of this exciting platform. We thoroughly look forward to contributing to the significant volume of influential thought leadership generated through leveraging expertise from across the business and look forward to providing further updates on our website and Marketplace page.”

Bobby Morse, Senior Partner

Please visit our profile page to learn more about how we are adding value to companies in all aspects of their capital markets reputation: https://www.lsegissuerservices.com/marketplace/BursonBuchanan

VAALCO Energy, Inc. is an independent energy company with production, development and exploration assets in Africa and Canada. Buchanan’s ESG team provides ongoing advisory to VAALCO on sustainability management and reporting.

In 2023, we developed a materiality framework for the business, informed by internationally recognised ESG standards, in order to capture the risk and opportunity universe for the enlarged Group. The resulting materiality register is the product of a robust process which engaged a complete cross section of the Group and enables enhanced oversight of and reporting on their most material issues.

Buchanan was also tasked with creating and delivering VAALCO’s 2023 Sustainability Report. Crucially, the report has greatly expanded upon the disclosure for each individual operating location, representing the transition from a single operating entity to a Group with assets across multiple jurisdictions.

The report includes forecasting VAALCO’s exposure climate-related legislative risk and presents the most detailed Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting to date. This reflects our work to significantly step up the business’ understanding on climate change-related risks and opportunities.

Buchanan’s ESG and Design teams worked closely with individuals from across the Group to deliver this report in order to demonstrate VAALCO’s strong commitment to achieving operational excellence in all regions.

Click here to read the report.

Commenting on our relationship with VAALCO, Jim said, “A company could not ask for a better partner in navigating its sustainability journey than the team at Buchanan. They have very deep knowledge of reporting frameworks and regulatory requirements, clearly understand the complexities of large global energy companies, exhibit strong creative skills, pay attention to important details, and advise how best to transparently communicate changing situations. Their insights reflect the reality that the financial community remains a main audience for data on corporate sustainability performance and they give counsel to ensure the focus is on how sustainability is adding value.”

Jim Schwartz, Director of Sustainability and Regulatory Compliance, VAALCO

Buchanan was delighted to join Hunting plc, the precision engineering group, in celebrating its 150th year since it was founded in 1874 by Charles Samuel Hunting.

https://huntingplc.com/news/celebrating-150-years-of-excellence

Hunting is a business that has adapted and diversified through multiple energy, industrial and technological transitions, beginning in shipping and through the 20th Century diversifying into oil field services.

Today Hunting is a leading precision engineering firm with a global footprint, with offices and operating bases across the world, supplying high-specification products to the oil and gas, geothermal and CCS sectors, and also using its advanced manufacturing capabilities to build parts for the defence, aerospace and medical sectors (clients include Space X, Blue Origin, Pratt & Whitney.).

In 2023, Hunting unveiled its ambitious Hunting 2030 Strategy at its CMD at the London Stock Exchange, aimed at driving robust growth and enhanced shareholder returns through the decade’s end and beyond. This strategic roadmap, rooted in innovation and market adaptability, seeks to maintain relevance in today’s dynamic markets while positioning the Company for success in the future.

The Buchanan Energy team works closely with Hunting to help define and position Hunting’s investment case, highlighting robust financial results and an exciting forward outlook with a strong platform for growth in the energy transition.

Read more on Hunting – 150 years of excellence

We are excited to announce that Buchanan has joined Burson, the industry-leading, full-service communications agency formed from the merger of BCW and Hill & Knowlton, which will complete on July 1, 2024.   The merger will create the largest PR firm globally, with 6,000 employees in 43 markets.

This new partnership will enable us to offer additional and enhanced services to our clients – in international markets such as the USA, EMEA and Asia, and in broader disciplines including public affairs, B2B, consumer, corporate and other strategic advisory services.

“The formation of Burson as the market-leading powerhouse in the global communications industry provides an exceptional opportunity for Buchanan to consolidate its leading position in London and expand its operations internationally” said Richard Oldworth, Chairman of Buchanan. “We share a common vision with Burson of building and protecting reputations, delivering significant value and placing our clients first, as capital markets evolve and present exciting global opportunities. Having the expansive global network and complementary skillsets which Burson provides will be of tremendous value to our existing and prospective clients.” 

For further details see here

Since 2020 the Altrad group has pursued a progressive acquisition strategy, with 14 new acquisitions adding 24,000 new employees and around €2.8Bn of new revenue, with an expanded service offering.

The Annual Report focuses on the integration of these acquisitions under a ‘One Altrad’ banner, exploring how the enlarged group which now consists of 60,000 people working across 54 countries, prioritises diversity and inclusion and the promotion of entrepreneurism with a culture of creation and innovation.

Buchanan supported Altrad with content creation for the report through engagement with senior management and team members from across the group. In addition, Buchanan has been mandated to advise Altrad on the forward development of its ESG strategy, and its effective implementation and communication to all stakeholders.

View the report here