Microsoft to buy digital marketing firm aQuantive
Microsoft Corp. will acquire aQuantive Inc., a digital marketing and services firm, for $66.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6 billion.
The acquisition of aQuantive—which owns, among other properties, interactive ad agency Avenue A Razorfish—enables Microsoft to strengthen relationships with advertisers, agencies and publishers by enhancing its advertising platforms and services beyond its current capabilities to serve MSN, the company says. The acquisition also provides Microsoft increased depth in building and supporting new advertising solutions and environments such as cross-media planning, video on demand and Internet protocol TV, it adds.
“The advertising industry is evolving and growing at an incredible pace, moving increasingly toward online and IP-served platforms, which dramatically increase the importance of software for this industry,” says Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “This represents the next step in the evolution of our ad network from our initial investment in MSN to the broader Microsoft network, including Xbox Live, Windows Live and Office Live, and now to the full capacity of the Internet.”
The Microsoft deal is fast on the heels of two other major Internet advertising acquisitions that demonstrate the increasing interest in and popularity of online advertising. In April Google announced its plan to buy digital advertising firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. Shortly after, Yahoo said it will purchase Right Media for $680 million.
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