• March 20, 2008

RBC Capital Markets on Wednesday issued an upbeat outlook on creative shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky, a unit of publicly traded MDC Partners Inc. Calling Crispin Porter MDC Partners' "crown jewel," RBC cited a new 5-year plan to triple the agency's revenue.

Among other things, it calls for pushing digital integration further, continuing to recruit top talent, expanding globally and becoming more involved in client product design to help incorporate marketing into products.

Picking up accounts like Burger King, Volkswagen and Microsoft in the last few years, RBC expects Crispin Porter to post revenue of $145 million in 2008, with EBITDA margins in the 20% range. Overall, the investment bank maintained its "Outperform" rating on MDC Partners and its $16 price target.

--Mark Walsh