E-mail marketing firm ValueClick Inc. said yesterday that it will buy privately held performance marketing company Web Marketing Holdings, dba Web Clients, for $141 million.
ValueClick, Westlake Village, CA, also said it would buy privately held E-Babylon Inc. for $11.7 million cash and a $3 million payment for the company's fulfillment center. E-Babylon, an online retailer of ink and toner products, will be integrated into ValueClick's Hi-Speed Media business. Last year, E-Babylon generated revenue of almost $17 million.
“Web Clients will give ValueClick immediate scale in promotional and industry-focused online content and will expand the company's existing lead-generation and opt-in e-mail channels,” ValueClick said in a statement.
Web Clients' Web sites complement ValueClick's businesses, including Search123 and Pricerunner, according to ValueClick. Web Clients, Harrisburg, PA, generates leads for clients through an affiliate network of 1,500 publishers and a database of 30 million opt-in e-mail profiles. ValueClick said Web Clients produced $59 million in revenue last year.
“These transactions are consistent with our strategy to begin to control some of our own traffic,” ValueClick chairman/CEO James Zarley said.
Both transactions are to close next month. ValueClick said it will update its 2005 guidance once the acquisitions have closed.
Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.
