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BRISBANE AGENCIES MERGE AS URBAINE ACQUIRES FRONT COMMUNICATIONS

Business

BRISBANE AGENCIES MERGE AS URBAINE ACQUIRES FRONT COMMUNICATIONS
Business

Business

BRISBANE AGENCIES MERGE AS URBAINE ACQUIRES FRONT COMMUNICATIONS

2026-03-16 10:16 Last Updated At:10:35

BRISBANE, Australia, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Specialist public relations, stakeholder engagement and communications consultancy Urbaine has announced the acquisition of Front Communications in a merger that cements its position as the agency of choice for Australia's property and infrastructure sectors.

Brisbane-based Urbaine, led by Managing Partners Sarah Dixon and Anita Kharbanda, has won numerous awards since it was founded in 2019 and counts some of Australia's largest developers and asset owners as long-term clients.

Sarah Dixon said the strategic merger formed part of the agency's long-term growth plans.

"Over the past six years Urbaine has transitioned from a boutique to mid-size agency supporting more than $20 billion in new property and infrastructure projects across Australia's residential, commercial, health and industrial markets," she said.

"Greg Bourke and his team at Front Communications are highly respected in our sector and bring additional bench strength to areas of the business we'd already identified as part of our growth.

"At a cultural level, their values, skills and experience complement our own and they bring blue-chip clients and decades of trusted experience to the fold."

Anita Kharbanda said the carefully curated merger has seen the successful transition of people and clients to Urbaine.

"Urbaine operates at the heart of the industries building Australia and we support major developments and community infrastructure throughout the planning and delivery phases to strengthen reputation and relationships, and de-risk commercial objectives," Ms Kharbanda said.

"The combined expertise of our people spans strategic advisory, stakeholder engagement, public relations and issues management, and the merger is a game changer for our clients, and our business.

"The timing couldn't be more impactful, with the property and infrastructure sectors delivering at scale and pace across sport, health, residential, commercial and essential services – and we're right in the thick of it."

Front Communications founder Greg Bourke said the decision to merge with Urbaine reflected a maturing of his agency's workbook and the desire to access a strengthened resource base. 

"This is an exciting step for us, enabling clients to draw on a larger team and expanded service offering," Mr Bourke said.

"It's rare to align so closely with another agency, both in terms of our specialist focus and our values, and I'm excited about the strength of our collective expertise."

The acquisition of Front Communications caps off a busy Q1 for Urbaine, which has also seen the appointment of six new staff members including new Group Director Linda O'Sullivan, who joins the agency after more than two years as AECOM's Transport Strategy and Growth Lead for the ANZ region.

About Urbaine

Urbaine is a multi-award-winning communications and engagement agency specialising in the property, infrastructure and corporate sectors. Founded in 2019, Urbaine's services span strategic advisory, stakeholder engagement, public relations and issues management, with a focus on residential, commercial, health, sport and industrial markets. The agency won CPRA's Boutique Agency of the Year Award in 2023 and 2024 and received a Highly Commended at the 2024 Comms Con Awards for its advocacy work with the Property Council of Australia (QLD). For more information visit www.urbaine.au

About Front Communications

Front Communications is a boutique agency specialising strategic advisory and stakeholder engagement in the property, energy, aviation, education, transport infrastructure, construction, defence, tourism, and sport and recreation sectors. Headquartered in Brisbane, our team has delivered projects across urban and regional Australia, NZ, Asia, and the UK. Front Communications was acquired by multi-award-winning communications and engagement agency Urbaine in February 2026.

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

BRISBANE AGENCIES MERGE AS URBAINE ACQUIRES FRONT COMMUNICATIONS

BRISBANE AGENCIES MERGE AS URBAINE ACQUIRES FRONT COMMUNICATIONS

SHANGHAI, March 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- USI, a global leader in electronic design and manufacturing services, will participate in the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC 2026) together with its subsidiary EugenLight Technologies Co., Ltd. (EugenLight). The event will take place March 17–19 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

At the exhibition, USI will present its latest 1.6T IMDD optical transceiver solution designed for next-generation data center networking. EugenLight will also showcase a comprehensive range of advanced optical communication components, including 800G and 1.6T high-speed silicon photonics engines for data communications, ELSFP light sources supporting UHP class, coherent transmission ITLA devices for C, L, and C+L bands, telecom-grade hermetically sealed 400G LR4 and ER4 OSA components, and Fast Tunable Laser devices designed for fiber sensing applications. Visitors are welcome to explore these technologies at Booth #2319.

The 1.6T optical module showcased by USI adopts the OSFP form factor and integrates an advanced 3nm DSP. The transmitter (Tx) incorporates a silicon photonics-based Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC), while the receiver (Rx) integrates a Transimpedance Amplifier (TIA) and PIN photodiodes. Using PAM4 modulation, the module supports DR8 and 2×DR4 architectures and also features a 2×FR4 compatible design. The transmission distance supports 500 meters to 2 kilometers, making it well suited for high-speed optical interconnects in data center environments.

Leo Tai, AVP of USI's R&D Center, commented:"USI has industry-leading capabilities in high-speed signal integrity and power integrity (SI/PI) design, as well as advanced thermal simulation and optical simulation using Zemax. In addition, we have strong expertise in high-speed PCB design utilizing mSAP and substrate PCB technologies. USI also operates dedicated optical communication laboratories for module performance verification, including optical eye diagram measurements using high-speed sampling scopes and bit error rate testing using BERT equipment."

Beyond its R&D strengths, USI also provides comprehensive one-stop services from design to mass production, helping customers accelerate product commercialization. USI's manufacturing capabilities for optical modules include high-density SMT processes, KGD flip-chip, and die/wire bonding production lines with full testing and validation. The company also supports optical device assembly, covering chip-on-carrier, sub-mount integration, laser, lens, isolator, FAU, and active alignment processes, along with optical assembly and optical module testing capabilities. These end-to-end capabilities enable USI to deliver complete solutions from design and development to high-volume manufacturing.

Welcome to download detailed product information and learn more about optical interconnect technologies of USI and EugenLight.

https://videocdn.usiglobal.com/video/download/2026_OFC_eBrochure.pdf
https://videocdn.usiglobal.com/video/news/EugenLight_2026_Profile.pdf
https://videocdn.usiglobal.com/video/news/EugenLight_2026_Catalog.pdf

About USI (601231.SH)

USI, Universal Scientific Industrial (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., is a global leader in electronic design and manufacturing as well as a leader in the field of SiP (System-in-Package) technology. Our production and service locations span four continents: Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, offering customer diversified electronic products with D(MS)2 services: Design, Manufacturing, Miniaturization, Industrial software, and hardware Solutions, as well as material procurement, logistics and maintenance Services. USI is a subsidiary of ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. (TWSE: 3711, NYSE: ASX). To learn more, please visit www.usiglobal.com and engage with us on LinkedIn and YouTube.

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

USI and EugenLight Technologies to Showcase Comprehensive Optical Communication Solutions at OFC 2026

USI and EugenLight Technologies to Showcase Comprehensive Optical Communication Solutions at OFC 2026

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