Crown Partners becomes Razorfish subsidiary

Crown Partners, a Washington Twp.-based electronic business services firm, has been acquired by a French multinational company, but will keep its presence in the Dayton area, the firm’s top official said Wednesday.

Paris-based Publicis Groupe has acquired Crown, which will operate as a subsidiary of Razorfish Technology Platform Services, a digital and technology business division of Publicis, company officials said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Crown Chief Executive Richard Hearn will assume the position of executive lead and president of New York City-based Razorfish.

“We fully intend to keep, and even grow, our Dayton presence,” Hearn said in a statement. Details about Crown’s integration within Razorfish will be announced in the near future, he said.

Founded in 2001, Crown offers digital content, commerce, communications and analytics services to clients that include Lands’ End, ASICS, Keurig-Green Mountain, GlaxoSmithKlein, St. Jude, United Technologies and David Yurman.

Last year, Crown acquired Intersect, a New York City-based digital marketing agency.

Crown has about 150 employees, with the majority at its two campuses on Paragon Road in Washington Twp. The company also has offices in Dallas, Denver and New York.

Razorfish is one of the world’s largest full-service digital agencies, with more than 3,000 employees and clients that include Delta Airlines, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz USA, Microsoft, Niki China, Unilever and Uniqlo.

Publicis Groupe, a French multinational advertising and public relations company, has 62,000 employees at offices in 108 countries worldwide.

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