Publicis Groupe has acquired the Razorfish group from Microsoft in exchange for:
This gives Microsoft a 3.3% stake in Publicis Groupe.
Razorfish will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Publicis Groupe and will be organizationally part of VivaKi, the Publicis Groupe media and digital umbrella encompassing Starcom MediaVest Group, ZenithOptimedia, Denuo, Digitas and VivaKi Nerve Center.
David Kenny, Managing Partner of VivaKi and member of the Publicis Groupe Management Board, will be responsible for the successful integration of Razorfish and implementation of the Groupe's growth and synergy programs.
The Publicis Groupe consolidated financial statements will include Razorfish's operations as of October 13, 2009. Organic growth figures will exclude organic growth achieved by Razorfish until one calendar year after consolidation of the newly acquired entity (i.e., as of October 13, 2010). Based on results for the first eight months of 2009, the Groupe's digital business, including Razorfish, would account for slightly over 25% of aggregate revenue.
Publicis Groupe has already attained the goal it set itself to reach 25% of its revenue in digital for the end of 2010, thus strongly consolidating the Groupe's leadership in this key business area of the future.
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