Intuit to Sell Quicken Loans

Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif., which bought Rock Financial Corp. for $370 million in 1999 and re-branded it Quicken Loans, has agreed to sell the online lender to a newly created holding company headed by Quicken chairman Dan Gilbert. Mr. Gilbert, who founded the Livonia, Mich.-based Rock Financial, will serve as chairman of the new holding company. When the transaction closes (expected to be within the next 90 days), Quicken said it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the new company and will continue to offer residential home mortgages and home equity loans under the Quicken Loans and Rock Financial brands. Under the agreement, Intuit will receive cash, a note, and multiyear licensing fees in exchange for all the outstanding stock of Intuit's Quicken Loans Inc. and Title Source Inc. subsidiaries. Intuit will also receive a 12.5% equity stake in the yet-to-be-named holding company. In the fourth quarter of last year, Quicken ranked ninth in the nation among online lenders. Intuit said it made the move as part of a marketing shift from consumers to small business. Intuit and Quicken Loans can be found on the Web at http://www.intuit.com and http://www.quickenloans.com, respectively.