London, August 20, 2007 - Leading brand and reputation analysis company, Echo Research, has acquired the UK-based KWHR Network Limited, it was announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement, Echo Research will also take over KWHR's global reseller agreement with PR Newswire, the leading global commercial news distribution service, which uses KWHR to power its media measurement and evaluation service, MediaSense ™.
Sandra Macleod, founder and CEO of the Echo Group said: "KWHR is at the forefront of technology solutions and academic thinking on content analysis and media capture. This represents the second key investment Echo is making to expand the range of solutions we can offer clients to meet their differing demands and budgets. It is less than two weeks since we announced that David Michaelson LLC is merging its operations and client base with Echo Research Inc. These additions
strengthen our ability to provide the full suite of research across all our offices - primary, secondary and media content analysis - needed by today's PR practitioners."
Among KWHR's main clients are Vodafone, Sony, eBay and the John Lewis Partnership. KWHR has also produced over 900 MediaSense reports in its agreement with PR Newswire for organisations of all sizes spanning all industries including consumer, financial services, automotive and non-profit.
KWHR's Managing Director, Keith Woods-Holder commented: "KWHR was looking for an international partner to provide value-added services to our existing client base and expand our advanced technology-based solutions. We share Echo's commitment to quality and consultancy services to help deliver organisational success through improved communications."
PR Newswire's Chief Executive, Charles Gregson, added: "We have been delighted with the tremendous success of MediaSense which has been developed and managed by KWHR since 2005. Its rapid take-up in the PR industry has surpassed our expectations. KWHR's acquisition by Echo will add more resources and possible new research services for our customers internationally and we look forward to working together in this new partnership."
