Pulicis Acquires Razorfish

Publicis Groupe SA and Microsoft Corporation jointly announced that they have signed an agreement under which Publicis Groupe will acquire Razorfish, a leading digital marketing agency, in a transaction valued at approximately $530 million, expected to be provided in a combination of cash and Publicis Groupe treasury shares.

"The acquisition of Razorfish is another step forward in realizing our strategic vision of building a world leader in digital communications, a critically important space for our clients," said Maurice Levy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe....

"Razorfish is known for extraordinary digital customer experiences and brings with it a robust suite of tools that will enhance the current portfolio of capabilities we are building to keep our clients connected to people in an increasingly digital world," added Mr. Levy.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are grateful for the contributions Razorfish has made to our online advertising business since joining the company as a part of the aQuantive acquisition in 2007, and are pleased that they have found a new long-term home with Publicis Groupe. We look forward to continuing to work with Razorfish as one of our agencies, and we're confident that as a part of Publicis Groupe, Razorfish will build on its success to date in the digital advertising industry."

Razorfish will continue to operate under its brand name and be organizationally part of VivaKi, the new Publicis Groupe entity created in June 2008 to leverage the combined scale of the autonomous operations of Digitas, Starcom MediaVest Group, Denuo, and ZenithOptimedia. Major clients of Razorfish include Best Buy, Ford, McDonald's, Microsoft, and Starwood Hotels.