Commission Junction’s parent company, ValueClick, has already managed to sell-off its unwanted business segment, in an apparent ‘bargain’ deal with a US media conglomerate.
Last month ValueClick’s CEO John Giuliani, announced the intent to pursue the divestiture of its ‘Owned & Operated Websites (O&O) Division; which runs sites including Investopedia, PriceRunner and CouponMountain.
Giuliani said despite the strong set of businesses within the segment, the sites did not align with its wider ValueClick strategy.
ValueClick has now agreed to sell 100% of its O&O segment to NASDAQ- listed business the IAC – which owns sites such as Match.com and Vimeo.
The New York-headquartered IAC’s new purchase will be a new addition to its Search and Applications reporting segment; joining Ask.com, About.com and Dictionary.com, among others.
President of ValueClick Brands, Steve Neufer, will continue to lead the business from their headquarters in Monrovia, California.
The all-cash transaction is expected to close in January 2014, subject to customary closing conditions.
The IAC, which is made up of more than 150 brands, is owned by billionaire Barry Diller and the ValueClick deal follows IAC’s $300 million acquisition in 2012 of About.com.
According to Bloomberg, Diller scooped a ‘bargain’ for ValueClick’s O&O segment, with the deal thought to be worth about $80 million.