FreeShop.com to Buy Back Stock

Online direct marketing company FreeShop.com Inc. will buy back as much as 10%--more than 15.6 million shares as of July 14--of its common stock . Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown, FreeShop.com's lead banker, will oversee the buyback. "FreeShop has nearly $40 million in cash right now, which we feel is more than enough to reach our goals and achieve profitability," says John Wade, the company's chief financial officer. Seattle-based FreeShop.com specializes in customer acquisition for marketers. Consumers seeking to explore, learn about or try new products can choose from a variety of free, trial and promotional offers from hundreds of companies.