LendingTree Inc., which runs a Web service that lets borrowers shop for a lender, says that after its deal for GetSmart closes it plans to keep the GetSmart brand name and run the two sites separately.
LendingTree will make both services available to its lender customers, which will be able to bid to acquire customers through both Web sites. There is already some overlap in the lending products both services sell, though surprisingly little overlap in their lender rosters, according to comScore Networks, a research and consulting firm in Reston, Va., that tracks Web activity.
GetSmart is a subsidiary of the credit card issuer Providian Financial Corp. and LendingTree is a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp. of New York. GetSmart and LendingTree announced the deal Oct. 14 and said it would close in December.
The price was not disclosed, but a LendingTree spokeswoman said her company expects GetSmart to represent around 10% of LendingTree's revenue, assuming that the seller's 100 lending partners stay on board. LendingTree has about twice that number.
Doug Lebda, LendingTree's founder and chief executive, said in the announcement of the deal, "The decision to acquire the GetSmart brand reflects our commitment to provide our lenders with an increasing level of consumer loan requests to enable them to profitably grow their businesses."
Providian said in the announcement that GetSmart is a "nonstrategic asset." A spokesman for the San Francisco company said that GetSmart's 14 employees may be offered jobs with LendingTree or Providian or be offered severance packages.
In an e-mail interview, LendingTree spokeswoman Mindy Neubauer explained her company's goals in the deal.
"By offering the LendingTree and GetSmart brands, LendingTree can further expand upon the developed lender, marketing, and consumer relationships garnered by both companies to offer a wider range of products to a larger scale of consumers," Ms. Neubauer wrote. "We are definitely interested in exploring the cross-marketing opportunities that might be available between GetSmart and our Realty Services." That product matches customers with real estate brokers in their area.
Chris Britt, the vice president of the banking practice at comScore Networks, said that GetSmart attracts wealthier customers than LendingTree and is thus a good buy.
"GetSmart appeals to a slightly higher income range," Mr. Britt said. Forty-eight percent of those who visited GetSmart in August had incomes over $75,000, against only 41% for LendingTree, he said. "We think it is a great deal. LendingTree will increase their monthly traffic by 50%."
