Event Summary
Razorfish
Inc. (Nasdaq: RAZF) announced that it has purchased Lee Hunt Associates and
TSDesign, Inc. The combined value of the purchase was approximately $49 million.
Razorfish specializes in Internet development, and brings strategic, creative
ad technology solutions to its engagements. Lee Hunt Associates is a leading
branding and marketing company in the entertainment industry; it has design
and production experience with both print and video. TSDesign is similar to
Razorfish as a website design and implementation firm, but has a specialization
in user interface design and analysis.
Market
Impact
The
space of high-end web-site design is a very crowded one that we believe is not
close to a final shakeout. However, Razorfish's moves both look like the beginnings
of a consolidation, and make sense in their own right. Lee Hunt Associates brings
both expertise and entree into the glamorous world of Hollywood. Lee Hunt (the
individual) will become head of Razorfish's broadband solutions group. Razorfish
is clearly confident that the "broadband revolution" is coming, and beyond the
immediate value of access to such Lee Hunt clients as Disney and MSNBC, this
move is certainly part of a strategy to be a leading provider when that revolution
finally arrives. TSDesign's special expertise in usability analysis will augment
Razorfish's existing design capabilities. CEO and founder Terry Swack will become
Vice-President of experience design.
User
Recommendations
In the short-run, the acquisition of TSDesign is probably the more important
factor for a company seeking web design services. If for no other reason, one
of TSDesign's offerings is a usability analysis called the User Experience Auditsm.
Engaging TSDesign for an audit of your current website or preliminary design
will provide useful information and a good introduction to Razorfish's capabilities.