Online company bids for LendingTree

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Monday, May 5, 2003 | 9:52 a.m.

NEW YORK -- USA Interactive, the online commerce company headed by Barry Diller, today said it agreed to purchase LendingTree Inc.for $626 million to $734 million, its fourth acquisition in less than 12 months.

Shareholders of LendingTree, an Internet-based loan service provider, will receive 0.6199 share of USA common stock for each share of LendingTree common stock they own, the companies said in a statement. LendingTree shares rose as much as 45 percent.

USA owns controlling stakes in Expedia, the biggest online travel service, and Hotels.com, which sells room reservations over the Internet. USA's businesses also include home shopping TV network HSN, concert and sports ticket retailer Ticketmaster and the Match.com online dating service.