Publicis Groupe SA has closed its acquisition of Razorfish, a marketing agency formerly owned by Microsoft.
Publicis Groupe gave Microsoft 6.5 million shares, which will be held as treasury shares, with the price based on the average share price during 20 consecutive trading days.
The 6.5 million shares gives Microsoft a 3.3% stake in Publicis Groupe. Addtionally, Publicis Groupe paid out $286.8 million in cash from its reserves to Microsoft.
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 integrating Razorfish.
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