An initial payment of £2.9m has been split between £900,000 in cash and 740,955 new Cordiant shares. Further payments of shares will be made before December 2003 and are dependent on Bulletin's performance.
The PR consultancy will become part of Cordiant's Business Communications International (BCI) network.
Bulletin's head office is in London with operations in Hong Kong, New York and Singapore. Its clients include Rolls Royce, EDS, BMW, Michelin, Motorola, Philips, Intelsat, Shell International and various government clients.
The acquisition suits Cordiant's strategic priorities of building its businesses in the burgeoning marketing communications sector and strengthening its leadership position in business communications. Bulletin's services include strategic counsel, media relations, editorial media planning, editorial content production and placement, and media training.
Michael Bungey, chief executive officer of Cordiant, said Bulletin would strengthen BCI's existing operations in London and New York and give it a presence in Asia, "one of the key development regions for the network".