Microsoft has been trying to unload Razorfish, the digital agency it acquired as part of its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive, for about a month now, with a view to selling it to a top advertising
holding firm like Interpublic Group, Omnicom Group or Publicis Groupe. However, at least one of these firms is less sweet on the deal now than they were. According to Credit Suisse analyst Ellie
Lawford, Publicis' management recently said Razorfish is "not so critical" and would at best be "nice to have."
"Management commented that in 2006 when Publicis bought Digitas, 'The
good fish was Digitas,'" Lawford said. They noted that Razorfish has high quality people, and is technically strong (with good tools and measurement systems) and less focused on creative than Digitas.
Had the company not acquired Digitas in 2006, then a Razorfish acquisition might make more sense, they added, reiterating Maurice Levy's recent comments that Razorfish might be "nice to have." Lawford
goes on to add that competitors to Publicis with less digital exposure would be more likely to try and purchase Razorfish at this point.
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