a4u Blog

buy.at who have recently expanded in the US market, have acquired Lightstate founded by respected internet entrepreneur Shakil Khan.

Lightstate collects consumer information from its partnerships with financial services sites, portals and comparison sites. 

Consumers complete online application forms providing financial information and their contact details. These are pre-qualified by Lightstate and delivered to the advertiser who can contact the consumer and advise them on the products available to suit their specific needs.

Lightstate will be renamed buy.at leads and will operate as a subsidiary of buy.at with both Kevin Cornill, CEO and founding COO Steve Brown joining its board of directors.

Lightstate’s technology will be integrated with buy.at which will include its online and offline tracking products.

Commenting on the acquisition, Kevin believes that the acquisition will make them the market leader in technology for lead generation, giving them more choice of products to offer affiliates and merchants.

Shakil Khan will remain the MD at the newly named buyatleads

Shakil adds ‘buy.at has a similar approach to ours. It is the biggest independent affiliate network in the UK but has retained its entrepreneurial sprit, It has an excellent client base and strong relationships with affiliates, facilitated by good technology. The acquisition will accelerate our growth as buy.at’s infrastructure will have a dramatic impact on our reach and contacts.’

This acquisition, buy.at’s first since it was founded in 2002 is a breath of fresh air especially after a scurry of network acquisitions of publisher websites by ValueClick this year.

In this case we see real value added to network capabilities for both affiliates and merchants in hot lead generation market, tipped to be one of the fastest growing channels of affiliate marketing in 2007 and 2008.