While breaking news isn’t the central focus of Social Media Explorer, we caught wind of this story a bit before the rest of the world.

[flickr style="float: left"]photo:2676215559[/flickr]Maggie Fox’s Social Media Group has agreed in principle to acquire Geoff Livingston’s Livingston Communications and The Buzz Bin, one of the top social media and public relations blogs in the U.S. The purchase will make SMG the world’s largest independent social media marketing and communications firm and will be completed in August. SMG will now have offices in Toronto, Calgary and Washington, D.C. Livingston will become Executive Vice President, Americas and continue to head the Washington office.