L.A.'s most visible PR firm, specializing in crisis management, is being sold to consulting firm Resources Connection for an initial payment of $43.3 million in cash and stock. As part of the deal, Resources is also buying a small restructuring firm, Riverside-based Brincko Associates. As part of the deal, employees from both firms will receive performance-based payouts over the next four years. From the Journal:

Sitrick is best known for representing clients ensnared in scandal--including the Archdiocese of Los Angeles during a sexual-abuse lawsuit and Paris Hilton following her release from a brief jail stint. But much of the firm's work is on more humdrum corporate matters, involving press-relations work for companies in or near bankruptcy protection. The deal comes as corporate bankruptcies are rising amid the economic downturn. In purchasing Sitrick, Resources' strategy is to create a one-stop shop for companies in distress, providing chief restructuring officers, human resource personnel and ex-journalists turned public relations specialists, according to the people familiar with the matter.

By the way, Irvine-based Resources was part of the accounting giant Deloitte before breaking off and becoming a public company in 2000. Here's the LAT version.

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