For those who remember the buyout of Be Free by ValueClick in 2002 will remember that the total cost of that transaction was in excess of $100 million dollars. The oddest thing was that shortly after that purchase, ValueClick shutdown Be Free and moved all clients over to Commission Junction, their other affiliate marketing platform. [...]

The purchase of a company for its intellectual property and assets is common practice in the business world. But sometimes, companies often make a purchase that does not seem to make any sense… at least not in the short term. This was the case for ValueClick purchasing Be Free in 2002 for over $100 million [...]