Display ad co. ValueClick sells off properties, hunkers down

Online advertising firm ValueClick has sold off two of its less critical subsidiaries in order to brace for what is predicted to be a tough time ahead in the web display ad market. The public company brought in a total of $18 million with the sale of Mediaplex Systems and an unnamed inkjet e-commerce company, reports AdAge.

Mediaplex, maker of AdVault, the software that helps advertising firms usher their workload through production, planning and billing, went to MediaBank — a company that specializes in solving process pain points for marketers and ad agencies. The amount of this individual sale is undisclosed, but it must have been a bargain, considering that ValueClick bought Mediaplex for $48.9 million in 2001. ValueClick will keep the rights to Mediaplex’s MOJO brand software. The purchaser of the inkjet e-commerce business has been withheld.

ValueClick has taken a bigger hit that its peers in the field due to a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission alleging that the Westlake Village, Calif.-company used fraudulent strategies to generate leads. It chose to pay a $2.9 million settlement. In addition to that, it’s been widely reported that the display business will continue to dwindle.

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