Kekst CNC

Background

Kekst CNC is a public relations firm owned by PublicisGroupe, a French advertising and public relations conglomerate.¹ In 2018, PublicisGroupe subsidiaries Kekst and CNC (Communications and Network Consulting), a Munich-based public relations firm, merged.² Kekst CNC has 14 locations with offices in New York, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Tokyo, Brussels, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, and Stockholm. In Stockholm, Kekst CNC operates under the name JKL.

In 2021, Kekst CNC joined the European Public Affairs Consultancies Association, which aims to increase “positive engagement and ethical lobbying,” according to the association.³

Stance on Climate Change

In 2021, Publicis Groupe, which owns Kekst CNC, committed to achieving net-zero emissions for all its subsidiaries before 2030. Publicis Groupe pledged to “reduce the carbon emissions of the work we are doing for our clients, in all activities.”⁴

From October 19 to November 28, 2022, Kekst CNC surveyed 12,000 people across Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Ukraine, South Africa, the United States, and UK for the 2023 Munich Security Index. Kekst CNC found that the people surveyed felt climate change was the second greatest threat to global security, followed by destruction of natural habitats in third, and extreme weather and forest fires in fourth place.⁵

In the 2022 Munich Security Index conducted by Kekst CNC, respondents felt climate change was the greatest threat to global security.⁶ The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Kekst’s subsequent decision to interview people in Ukraine instead of Russia for the 2023 Munich Security Index complicated the results of the 2023 survey.

Funding

Clients

Actions

February 2023 – Adani Group Hires Kekst CNC⁷

In February 2023, it was reported that Kekst CNC had been hired as a crisis PR firm for the Adani Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate that has lost $135 billion of its market value since January 2023.⁸ The collapse of Adani’s market value came after Hindenburg Research published a report accusing Adani of “brazen stock manipulation and fraud accounting scheme over the course of decades.”⁹ Adani denied these allegations.¹⁰ Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position in Adani, which meant Hindenburg would profit if Adani’s stock price decreased.

The Adani Group is enormously powerful in India; it makes a fifth of India’s cement and operates a fifth of India’s power transmission’s lines.¹¹ Adani Group is also India’s largest private coal company, and in January 2023, the CFO of Adani Enterprises said that its coal business will continue for decades.¹²

Bloomberg News reported that a person familiar with Kekst CNC’s work for Adani said it was charged with restoring investor trust in Adani.¹³ As of March 2023, Kekst CNC was working with Adani’s executive and communication teams to create a “situation room” to respond to the cascading crises.¹⁴

2015

In September 2015, Volkswagen hired Kekst and Edelman to revive its reputation in the United States after it was revealed that Volkswagen had distorted emissions test results of its vehicles in order to pass U.S. emissions standards.¹⁵ More than 11 million Volkswagen vehicles had a “defeat device” installed to manipulate emissions testing software.¹⁶ From September to November 2015, Volkswagen’s response to the crisis drew criticism from the public and regulators.¹⁷ Volkswagen initially denied in November 2015 that some of its luxury models were outfitted with the “defeat device” software, only to admit a few weeks later that they actually were.¹⁸

2007

Kekst & Co. somewhat unusually worked for clients on both sides of the $45 billion buyout of Texas utility company TXU by private equity firms Kolberg Kravis & Roberts and Texas Pacific. ¹⁹

The deal was also unusual in that it brought the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and TXU to the negotiating table in February 2007. While Kekst & Co. was working for TXU and its longtime client KKR, “TXU’s outreach to well-known environmental groups before the deal succeeded in winning preemptive support from groups that could have emerged as vocal opponents,” according to PR Week.²⁰

For several months prior to February 2007, EDF, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Rainforest Action Network, and CERES had been campaigning against TXU’s $10 billion plan to build 11 new coal-fired power plants.²¹ EDF and its allies urged TXU to pursue renewable energy instead of building coal-fired power plants, which would more than double TXU’s emissions.²² A natural gas coalition called the Texas Clean Sky Coalition, which was organized by Chesapeake Energy, also advertised against TXU’s plan to build coal plants.²³