K Street’s Ogilvy parts ways with biggest client

Ogilvy Government Relations has parted ways with its biggest client, Blackstone Group.

Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Ogilvy Government
Relations, said the lobby shop is no longer working with the
private equity firm.  

“This is part of the transition with Wayne and
others leaving the firm. We will soon announce that we are hiring new staff and
we will have some new clients as well,” Daly told The Hill.

Daly was referring to Wayne Berman, the prominent Republican
lobbyist who left Ogilvy in June and joined Blackstone as an
in-house lobbyist.

The private equity firm isn’t leaving K Street behind, however, and is taking its business to another top firm, Capitol Counsel. 

A senior lobbyist at Capitol Counsel confirmed the firm would be taking on the Blackstone account and told The Hill that the official registration paperwork has been filed.  

Ogilvy, which is owned by WPP, has had several lobbyists and
clients leave the firm recently. Blackstone has paid Ogilvy $2.5 million in lobbying fees so far this year, according to lobbying disclosure records.

That said, Ogilvy has begun to retool, and announced the hires
of two new GOP lobbyists this week — Dee Buchanan, the House
Republican Conference chief of staff, and Con Lass, senior director of federal
relations for the American Petroleum Institute.  

Ogilvy is among the top earners on K Street, and has
taken in $9.7 million in lobbying fees so far this year.

This story was first posted at 2:12 p.m. and has been updated with new information.