Microsoft looks to sell Razorfish and secure ad deal along the way |
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Microsoft looks to sell Razorfish and secure ad deal along the way
It's been no secret that Microsoft is looking to sell its digital advertising agency Razorfish. But now The Wall Street Journal has more details on the behind-the-scenes talks. It reports that the software giant is in discussions with five giant ad companies -- not only to buy Razorfish, but also to utilize Microsoft ad technologies and purchase "hundreds of millions of dollars" of ad space across its Web properties.
That could make Razorfish -- whose clients include Travelchannel.com, Levi Strauss and Starwood Hotels -- an interesting playing card in Microsoft's pursuit of Google in the online advertising arena.
As previously reported by The Financial Times, Microsoft has tapped Morgan Stanley to assist with a sale. Potential buyers include WPP, Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic Group and Dentsu.
The Journal reports that any of those ad companies would need to tread carefully if they were to enter a deep partnership with Microsoft. Reporter Emily Steel writes:
Aligning too closely with Microsoft could pose a threat to a big advertising company's status as a neutral third party supposed to seek out the best deals for marketers. The winning bidder could have a conflict of interest when choosing between search engines to buy ad time on, for instance.
Still, there's a lot at stake with the Journal reporting that Razorfish -- which is based in Seattle and employs 2,000 people worldwide -- could fetch as little as $400 million to several hundred million dollars based on the other advertising elements of the deal. (The Financial Times previously reported that Razorfish could sell for $600 million to $700 million.)
Microsoft acquired Razorfish as part of its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive.
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