Publicis just got a little bigger as it outbid the other agency conglomerates to take Razorfish off Microsoft's hands for a mere $530 million.  I haven't had a chance to ask any longtime Razorfish employees how they feel about being traded as frequently as a baseball card, but I can't imagine that it fosters a lot of loyalty to the company. Microsoft bought Razorfish's parent company, aQuantive, for $6 billion or 10x revenue just 2 years ago, and is now shedding the business units it doesn't want (Razorfish) for 1.4x revenue, which says a lot about software company valuations vs. agency valuations.  On reflection, I couldn't be happier with the type of independent culture Portland agencies have.  Portland's largest agency, Wieden + Kennedy, is the world's largest completely independent agency and was named Global Agency of the Year last year - any coincidence that they best creative work comes from an independent agency?

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