As far as I see it the current practice of “buyouts” is pretty similar to shady tactics deployed by corporate raiders in the 1980s.
If the deals were based on fair assumptions for future earnings they would have to be made based on earnings in the past and a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) would have to be used to project future earnings. Furthermore, the cashflow from earnings would have to be discounted in perpetuity (for life) to arrive at a fair valuation of affiliate cashflow which is a going concern.
Another point of view could be:
If you´re planning to take over an affiliate marketing outfit that has contracts “for-life” then you will have to take over their affiliates on those terms as well. [amen]