NEW YORK and RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Octagon, the world's largest sports and entertainment consulting and activation practice, has expanded its South American footprint by acquiring B2S, the veteran Rio de Janeiro-based sports marketing firm with offices in Rio and Sao Paulo.  The move dramatically strengthens Octagon's client service offering for both marketing and sports representation in light of Brazil's ascendancy as the "capital" of sports as host of the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Summer Games. 

"B2S has been at the center of sports marketing in Brazil, providing leading edge insights and impeccable activation.  This is the melding of two like-minded companies and we are extraordinarily pleased to have them become part of our team," said Octagon President & CEO Rick Dudley, citing B2S' work with the Brazilian National Team (CBF) and their sports marketing consulting role for major international brands including Itau, Ambev, Vivo, Panini, Red Bull, EA Sports, Andrade Gutierrez, among others.   

B2S principal and 10-year industry veteran, Alexandre Leitao, who will become Octagon Brazil President, described the relationship with Octagon as a perfect fit.  "We have been operating our agencies on a parallel track," Leitao explained.  "We are very excited at the opportunity to align with the global leader in our industry. We have begun immediate collaboration on sponsorship marketing projects for both the FIFA World Cup 2014 as well as the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, and we believe the combination of Octagon's two decades of experience in these two great events coupled with our local expertise will provide an unbeatable resource for sponsors," he added.

Octagon Marketing Americas President, Jeff Shifrin traced the origins of the Octagon/B2S relationship to a positive collaboration on a 2010 FIFA World Cup™ sponsor pitch.  "That success convinced both of us that we were highly compatible and we are very pleased to be one firm today," Shifrin said.

Octagon (IPG: NYSE) is the world's largest sports & entertainment sponsorship consulting practice and pioneer and leader in athlete & personality representation & management.  Octagon's 800+ employees worldwide work with hundreds of blue-chip corporate clients, 800 athlete & personality clients and manage more than 5,000 events per year.  Visit: www.octagon.com.

SOURCE Octagon

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