Partnership, alliance, affiliate network - whatever the parties want to call it, such deals can offer both large and small firms significant benefits without the risk of an all-out acquisition.
In the PR world, as in most businesses, mergers and acquisitions represent a significant risk. Just ask the holding companies and large firms that went on a spending spree right before the tech bubble burst: They'll tell you that buying firms outright is not necessarily all it's cracked up to ...