Most of the Rancho Cordova company InsWeb Corp. was recently purchased by BankRate Inc. of New York. Sales like this are a big and potentially change-inducing business transaction and any time a major area employer is purchased by another company, there is the fear that the company will leave and with it will go many jobs.

However, that does not seem to be the case with InsWeb. BankRate, which is a publisher of financial information, said only about 20 jobs in Rancho Cordova will be cut, leaving about 30 in the Sacramento area. Ten or so jobs in San Francisco will be absorbed into BankRate's San Francisco office.

BankRate paid $65 million for most of InsWeb, which provides insurance quotes over the Internet, and the deal was finalized this week. A small portion of InsWeb will continue to work on e-commerce and insurance patents that were not included as part of the transaction with BankRate.

As previously mentioned, a sale is one of those business transactions that can really change things. It is very difficult to merge one company into another. Oftentimes, business owners work with lawyers to effectuate their sales and ensure that they are giving the proper treatment to existing legal agreements and are drafting sound, enforceable agreements as they move forward. From an outsider's perspective, it might seem like a complication that slows things down, but it really is a good way to make sure that there are few or no problems going forward.

Source: The Sacramento Bee, "Thirty InsWeb jobs to remain here despite company sale," Dec. 22, 2011