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After Google bought ad-serving firm DoubleClick in March 2007, Microsoft rushed onto the market in May 2007 and paid — most say overpaid — $5.9 billion for aQuantive and its three businesses: Atlas, DrivePM and digital agency Avenue A/Razorfish. Microsoft never wanted Avenue A, which investment bankers calculate to be worth about $800 million, buying it only because it came with the aQuantive package. Now AdWeek reports that Microsoft ha found a way to dump Avenue A/Razorfish on media-holding company WPP:

Six months after the companies started talking here's how a deal could unfold, according to people familiar with the discussions: Microsoft unloads the agency in exchange for a WPP package that includes 24/7's Open AdStream publisher ad-serving tool plus cash. WPP is interested in unloading Open AdStream, the ad-serving business it acquired in its $649 million purchase of 24/7 Real Media.