Markets Wired

The Federal Trade Commission has approved an application by Red Ventures to divest Caring.com, a subsidiary of Bankrate, to Caring Holdings, LLC, a newly formed company backed by a group of private equity investors and entrepreneurs with expertise in lead generation, search engine optimization, digital marketing and customer acquisition.

The application is related to the FTC’s complaint and proposed order, announced in November 2017, alleging that Red Ventures’ $1.4 billion acquisition of Bankrate would likely harm competition in the market for third-party paid referral services for senior living facilities. Red Ventures and Bankrate supply proprietary internet content and customer leads for a variety of industries. According to the FTC’s complaint, two of Red Ventures’ largest shareholders jointly own A Place for Mom.com, the largest provider of third-party paid referral services for senior living facilities. Competitor Caring.com is the second largest such provider.

The Commission vote to approve the application was 2-0. (FTC File No. 1710196; the staff contact is Joseph A. Lipinsky, Northwest Regional Office, 206-220-4473).

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