• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 14, 2005

Online advertising firm ValueClick said Monday it has agreed to buy Web Marketing Holdings--better known as Web Clients--for approximately $141 million, as well as ink and toner retailer E-Babylon, for $14.7 million in cash. The acquisitions are each expected to close before July 31.

Web Clients runs Web sites that are primarily focused on lead generation for advertisers, charging on a cost-per-acquisition or cost-per-lead basis. The deal gives ValueClick more than 100 promotional Web sites, including hartfordopiniongroup.com and designerbag4free.com, making it easier to offer media directly to advertisers. Web Clients also boasts an opt-in e-mail business and operates an affiliate network, 500 deep. Last year, it saw some $59 million in revenue and was profitable, according to a ValueClick spokesman.

The Web Clients grab allows ValueClick to increasingly own more and more of its own traffic, according to John Ardis, vice president of corporate strategy at ValueClick.

"We been involved in lead generation for some time, but now we can better control the flow, and provide an even greater share of leads for our clients," said Ardis. "The beauty of this deal is that it gives us the proprietary content to really scale lead generation, and that's what it's all about at the end of the day."

The company is in the process of purchasing and expanding the Pricerunner shopping search engine with similar goals in mind.

The purchase of E-Babylon will serve as a foundation of ValueClick's e-commerce business, and will be integrated into its Hi-Speed Media unit, Ardis said.