Charlotte-based LendingTree is expanding its presence in the credit card business with the $130 million acquisition of CompareCards.
“CompareCards has an established reputation as a leader in the online credit card comparison industry with solid issuer relationships and un-matched expertise in credit card search engine marketing,” said Doug Lebda, founder and CEO of LendingTree, in a statement.
“We continue to execute on our strategy, leveraging LendingTree’s brand and industry-leading position to further diversify and expand in other financial service categories. We strongly believe that Compare Cards’ technology platform, established issuer relationships and expert industry knowledge will accelerate our growth and further expand our presence in the online credit card comparison shopping industry.”
The deal was announced earlier this month.
CompareCards, which is based in Charleston, S.C., offers side-by-side credit card comparison, comprehensive credit card comparison and credit health management.
Of the purchase price, $85 million will be paid in cash at closing and contingent consideration payments up to $22.5 million will be made in both 2017 and 2018 should the company achieve growth targets.
CompareCards’ mission is to inform the general public on credit cards to help them make healthier financial decisions.
Its website receives over 1.5 million visitors each month.
“We believe that CompareCards’ consistent, high-quality traffic, talented team and highly-regarded reputation will be complementary to our business, and we’re confident that this transaction will be significantly and immediately accretive to LendingTree,” said Gabe Dalporto, chief financial officer of LendingTree, in a statement.
The company’s founder, Chris Mettler, did not plan to sell the company but believed that LendingTree’s 300 employees will give the company greater reach than its current nine-person staff.
“We are very pleased to join the LendingTree team and excited about our future together,” Mettler said. “We are confident that our core competencies, particularly as it relates to consumers with prime credit, will enhance LendingTree’s ability to capture meaningful market share in the credit card vertical.”
