Microsoft to sell digital agency Razorfish

by Dan Leahul, Brand Republic 29-Jun-09, 08:50

LONDON - Microsoft is cutting loose its digital agency Razorfish and has hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the firm, with French marketing company Publicis Groupe tipped as a leading bidder.

Microsoft could fetch as much as $700m (£420m) for Razorfish, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The company acquired Razorfish, which was then called Avenue A/Razorfish, as part of its $6bn (£3.6bn) takeover of aQuantive in 2007.

Last month, Maurice Levy, Publicis Groupe chief executive, said a refinancing scheme had freed up some funds for potential acquisitions, particularly in the digital market.

Other potential bidders include Omnicom and WPP Group, which is also looking to expand its digital business, with cash in hand.

Razorfish is based in Seattle, close to the software giant's own headquarters, and has more than 2,000 staff. Clients include Kraft, Coca-Cola, Disney and Audi.

Most recently it is credited for arranging Microsoft's online advertising blitz for its Bing search engine. The company also designed the Bing logo.

Microsoft and Publicis, which already owns Digitas, announced a joint venture last week -- a digital ad alliance, linking the Publicis-owned PBJS and Vivaki with Microsoft's network, aimed at providing advertisers with a bigger digital impact.