Digital marketing firm aQuantive has acquired lead-generation firm Franchise Gator for $21.5 million, hoping to leverage the latter's technology and systems to expand its performance-based efforts, reports ClickZ. Franchise Gator offers pay-for-performance advertising to connect companies with potential franchisees or buyers in more than 100 industry sectors.

"There's a whole segment of marketers for whom the end goal is a lead. That segment requires a different set of tools and expertise to manage, and that's what we get with Franchise Gator," Mike Galgon, chief strategy officer at aQuantive, told ClickZ. "What they bring to the table are deep competencies in how to operate in getting leads to customers."

Franchise Gator will operate as a separate entity in aQuantive's performance-marketing unit, which includes DrivePM, writes AdWeek. Franchise Gator uses its website to attract prospects interested in owning franchises. It is paid by franchises each time a visitor fills out a contact form expressing interest in owning a franchise. A majority of its traffic comes from search engines.

The acquisition is apparently the first of other intended ventures into vertical markets. aQuantive plans to use Franchise Gator as a platform to enter other sectors of the lead-generation business, such as financial services, Galgon told AdWeek.