Racepoint Group Expands to Europe.

London-Based Fuse PR Becomes a Racepoint Group Company

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Racepoint Group, Inc., one of the fastest growing public relations agencies in North America, has expanded its operations to Europe by acquiring London-based Fuse PR. Effective immediately, Fuse PR becomes a Racepoint Group company and Racepoint Group's European headquarters.

Fuse PR, founded in 1998, is an award-winning public relations consultancy focused on the IT, health and education sectors. Based on outstanding work for clients including UKOnline, 7 Digital, EqualLogic, Fujitsu and KANA, Fuse has earned a reputation for quality and creativity. Fuse is also known for its commitment to team development. In the past year and a half, the consultancy has been recognized by Marketing Magazine as a Top 40 Marketing Employer and as a Top 5 Marketing Employer for Professional Development, and has won a CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Excellence Award for Outstanding Team in Education and Training. Fuse PR won Communicators in Business Best Consultancy in 2005.

As a result of Fuse PR becoming a Racepoint Group company, Jay O'Connor, Managing Partner and co-founder of Fuse PR, now becomes Managing Director of European Operations for Racepoint Group. In her new role, she will continue to service and grow the UK business while expanding Racepoint's operations to continental Europe. O'Connor started her public relations career with BT and then rose rapidly through the ranks of several leading PR agencies including Text 100 and The Weber Group. In 2001 she won the CIPR's Young Communicator Award for outstanding achievement and is now a CIPR Board member, chairing the Education and Professional Standards Committee. She is also a board advisor to the Institute for the Management of Information Systems, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors - the only PR agency head to date to achieve chartered status.

Philip Sheldrake, Partner and Analyst and Fuse PR co-founder, is now Racepoint's Director of Digital Strategies, Europe. Named by Internet Magazine as one of the Top 50 most influential people in the UK Internet industry, Sheldrake, a Chartered Engineer, keeps Fuse clients abreast of technology and market developments. He is the first leader from the UK PR industry to be elected a Main Board Member of Intellect, the UK trade association for the IT, telecommunications and electronics industries; he is also a founding member of Intellect's Digital Convergence Council. Previously, Sheldrake was CEO of Nochex, Europe's first email money service.

"We are tremendously excited about Fuse PR becoming a Racepoint Group company," said Marijean Lauzier, President and CEO of Racepoint Group. "We have known Jay and Philip for some time and respect and admire what they have built at Fuse PR. We share a common set of values and a deep commitment to client service and employee development. We look forward to working together to leverage the strengths of both Racepoint and Fuse in the broader European marketplace where we believe there is a tremendous opportunity for growth."

"This is a fantastic opportunity to take Fuse's development to the next level," said Jay O'Connor of Fuse PR. "It gives us access to new ideas, systems and people, which will invigorate our offering, and importantly, provide an international platform for our clients - many of whom require global outreach. We have also had the opportunity to work together on a number of client campaigns over the last year and it has been a great success."

About Racepoint Group, Inc.

Based in Waltham, Mass, Racepoint Group, Inc. is a global public relations agency for the innovation economy. With a focus on emerging leaders in the technology, health and science markets, Racepoint assists clients in achieving new levels of market awareness and revenue growth with creativity, speed, and precision. With a relentless drive for immediate business impact, Racepoint provides clients with a level of research, analytics and measurement, and a focus on digital media relations that is unmatched in the public relations industry. Racepoint is part of W2 Group, Inc., a next-generation ecosystem of technology-rich, strategic, creative and results-oriented marketing services companies. On the net: http://www.racepointgroup.com.

About Fuse PR

Fuse PR, founded in 1998, is an award-winning business-to-business and business-to-consumer public relations consultancy for the IT, health and education sectors. Fuse is known for its commitment to professional development. In 18 months, Fuse has been recognized by Marketing Magazine as a Top 40 Marketing Employer and Top 5 Marketing Employer for Professional Development. The consultancy has also won a CIPR Excellence Award for Outstanding Team in Education and Training, and Communicators in Business Consultancy of the Year in 2005. On the net: http://www.fursepr.com.