Avenue A / Razorfish Acquires e-Crusade Digital Marketing Agency Based in Hong Kong.SEATTLE -- Avenue A | Razorfish, the largest interactive marketing services firm in the U.S. and an operating unit operating unit A type of operating company that engages in transactions with outsiders and that is owned by another business. For example, in 1995 the stockholders of Capital Cities/ABC approved a $19 billion merger with the Walt Disney Company, whereupon of aQuantive, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : AQNT), today announced the acquisition of e-Crusade, a creative agency for digital marketing based in Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. and Shanghai. e-Crusade will retain its brand identity and existing leadership team and will operate as a subsidiary of Avenue A | Razorfish. e-Crusade joins the Avenue A | Razorfish digital marketing family, which includes 12 U.S. locations, DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. in the U.K., Amnesia in Australia and NEUE DIGITALE in Germany. Founded in 1999, e-Crusade helps clients achieve business and marketing results through effective use of technology. The digital marketing service includes strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. , creative conception, technical implementation and integrated maintenance. The Association of Accredited accredited recognition by an appropriate authority that the performance of a particular institution has satisfied a prestated set of criteria. accredited herds cattle herds which have achieved a low level of reactors to, e.g. Advertising Agents of Hong Kong and Asia Pacific Advertising Festivals have recognized e-Crusade with over 30 awards for its client work over the past three years. Clients include Coca-Cola, HSBC HSBC Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC Humane Society of Broward County (Florida) HSBC Humane Society of Bay County (Bay County, Michigan) , Nike and Xbox, among others. "The team at e-Crusade is acclaimed for its creative innovation and delivering digital marketing results," said Clark Kokich, worldwide president of Avenue A | Razorfish. "We are pleased to welcome e-Crusade to our expanding Avenue A | Razorfish organization. The ability to unite talent spanning five major markets is driving greater digital innovation, and compounding our global commitment to client service. Together, our scale offers clients greater digital marketing opportunities worldwide." Royce Lee, co-founder and managing director of e-Crusade, commented, "We are excited to collaborate with our colleagues throughout Avenue A | Razorfish. The methods and tactics each team offers should complement growth in our local markets, and serve as great opportunities to establish greater client service relationships." Under the leadership of Royce Lee and Venus Lee, co-founders and managing directors, and Endy Fung, chief creative director, the company is profitable and expects net revenue of $500,000 to $600,000 (US) for the remainder of 2006. e-Crusade has 43 employees, 38 in the Hong Kong headquarters and five launching the new Shanghai office. The total purchase price, payable in cash, will be determined by an earnout arrangement based on profit contributions from e-Crusade over the next four years and e-Crusade's net asset value on October 31, 2006. A cash payment of $2.95 million, or HK $23.0 million was paid as upfront consideration on the earnout. aQuantive expects this acquisition to be accretive on both a GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). earnings and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become basis. About e-Crusade Established in 1999, e-Crusade is the leading digital marketing agency in Greater China that excels in providing full digital consulting and development services to world-renowned companies and brands, including Coca-Cola, HSBC, Hong Kong Tourism Board The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), is a Hong Kong government-sub vented body. It was founded on 1 April 2001 under the HKTB Ordinance. It was reconstituted from and replaced the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA), which was established by Government Ordinance in 1957. , Nike, PCCW PCCW Pacific Century CyberWorks PCCW Palmer College of Chiropractic West (San Jose, California) and Xbox. e-Crusade endeavors to provoke innovative communications and unveil tremendous opportunities for world-class marketers to unleash unparalleled brand experience and equity. Awards and recognitions include the highly-acclaimed Hong Kong 4A's Interactive & Direct Awards, Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Festivals Interactive Awards, One Show International Awards and WebAwards. Visit www.e-crusade.com for more information. About Avenue A | Razorfish Avenue A | Razorfish (www.avenuea-razorfish.com) is the largest interactive marketing and technology services firm in the U.S., and an operating unit of Seattle-based aQuantive, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQNT). Avenue A | Razorfish solutions are entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. in deep technology, rigorous analytics and a rich understanding of customer needs, including award-winning web media and creative, search marketing services, email marketing/eCRM, and world-class creative, design and implementation of customer websites, intranets and extranets. Avenue A | Razorfish operates three U.S. regions - East, West and Central - with offices located in major U.S. markets, DNA in the U.K., Amnesia in Australia, NEUE DIGITALE in Germany and headquarters in Seattle. Clients include AstraZeneca, Best Buy, Disney, Kraft, Microsoft and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. aQuantive, Inc. and all of its operating units are committed to Internet privacy. Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements also include any other passages that relate to expected future events or trends that can only be evaluated by events or trends that will occur in the future. The forward-looking statements in this release include, without limitation, statements regarding expected revenue of e-Crusade for the remainder of 2006, expected future financial contributions, and expected benefits to be realized through the combination of Avenue A | Razorfish and e-Crusade. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, such as risks inherent in acquiring a business and the risk that the business may not be integrated successfully. More information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in aQuantive's forward-looking statements is set out in its annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended December 31, 2005, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date of this release. Except as required by law, aQuantive undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking or other statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Note: In the company name Avenue A | Razorfish noted in this news release, a pipe symbol appears between Avenue A and Razorfish. This symbol may not appear properly in some systems. |
|
||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion