British Company Acquires Rogers & Cowan PR Firm

Rogers & Cowan, the Los Angeles public relations firm that represents such Hollywood stars as Paul Newman, Sylvester Stallone and Cybill Shepherd, was purchased for an estimated $15 million on Tuesday by the British-based public relations firm Shandwick PLC.

The purchase will catapult the combined companies into one of the world’s largest independent public relations groups, with revenue of $34 million. In 1986, the Chicago-based public relations firm Daniel J. Edelman Inc., was ranked as the largest U.S. independent firm with revenue of $20.8 million. Rogers & Cowan ranked fifth.

The sale infuses badly needed working capital into Rogers & Cowan, which saw its revenue dip slightly in 1986, while many other public relations firms posted growth in excess of 20%.

“They needed the money,” said Jack O’Dwyer, the New York publisher of Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter, which tracks the public relations business. “They had a flat year.”

Executives at Rogers & Cowan, which specializes in public relations for the entertainment industry, admit that 1986 was hardly a banner year for the agency. In February, 1986, it purchased another public relations firm, Rogers & Associates of Century City, headed by Ron Rogers. Ron Rogers is the son of Henry Rogers, co-founder and chairman of the executive committee at Rogers & Cowan.

But senior executives from both firms say that philosophical differences between the two companies resulted in the two operations splitting apart just eight months later. “That cost us a substantial amount of money,” said Richard W. Taylor, president and chief executive of Rogers & Cowan.

The British firm will make an initial payment to Rogers & Cowan of $3.5 million. The remaining $11.5 million will be paid out over the next four years, the company said. The combined 550 employees of Shandwick and Rogers & Cowan will service about 600 clients.

Since it was founded in 1950, Rogers & Cowan has been best known as the place where Hollywood stars turned for publicity. Its earliest clients included Joan Crawford and Rita Hayworth. More recently, the company handled all the publicity for actress Cybill Shepherd’s wedding.

The company also has taken on an increasing number of corporate accounts in the past few years, including Mastercard International, Polaroid and Ford Motor Co. Corporate clients now account for nearly 40% of the company’s revenues, said Taylor. Shandwick’s corporate clients include Reader’s Digest, Lever Bros., Bristol-Myers Co.

Warren J. Cowan, who will remain as chairman, says one of his most recent promotional efforts didn’t quite work--but he’s not unhappy. He said he was unable to convince client Paul Newman to attend Monday night’s Academy Awards ceremony. “Sure, I asked him to go,” said Cowan. “But it didn’t turn out so bad.” Newman, who finally received the best actor award after six previous nominations, may have received more publicity than if he had attended, Cowan said.