Tree.com Changes Name to LendingTree

Tree.com announced this week it has changed its name to LendingTree, the brand for its signature service that pairs customers with mortgage lenders and other types of lenders.

In a statement, CEO Doug Lebda said the change is being made in part to allow the publicly traded company, based in Charlotte, to emphasize the well-known LendingTree name.

“We strongly feel that our corporate name should be aligned with our flagship brand, which is known to millions of consumers and thousands of lenders,” he said.

The move also follows Tree.com’s divesting in recent years of a handful of businesses and the re-branding of its remaining businesses under the LendingTree name. For example, in 2012, the company sold its mortgage-lending operation, Home Loan Center. The year before, Tree.com sold its real-estate-listing service, RealEstate.com.

The change marks a return to the name of the company Lebda co-founded in the 1990s as a way for consumers to comparison-shop for mortgages online.

Lebda sold LendingTree to IAC/InterActiveCorp in 2003, and returned as head of the company in 2008 after it was spun off as Tree.com. Until now, LendingTree was operated as part of parent Tree.com.

The name change took effect at the start of this year, the company said.

The company’s shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TREE. The Tree.com website is expected to be taken down later this month, and Lendingtree.com will be made the main corporate website, a company spokesperson said.

Tree.com employs roughly 200 at its headquarters.

This article appeared in print in the January 8th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.