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New companies mean new names

In June of last year, in a $400 million deal, Sydney, Australia-based Lend Lease Corp. acquired Atlanta's Equitable Real Estate Investment Management and its affiliated companies, and merged those firms with another of its new acquisitions, the New York-based real estate investment management company, The Yarmouth Group.

It was a massive, complex deal raising numerous issues, one of which was to figure out a new identity for the merged company.

Officials decided -- temporarily, at least -- to call the venture ERE Yarmouth, which suggested a merging of the names of its predecessors. But, as an ERE Yarmouth spokesman explained, the name doesn't quite say it all.

"It served to communicate fairly well the joining of these two companies, Yarmouth and Equitable Real Estate, under the Lend Lease umbrella," said Jonathan Miller, senior vice president, corporate communications. "But the company is neither ERE nor Yarmouth -- it's Lend Lease. ERE Yarmouth was always intended to be an interim name."

To solve that problem, the company -- Lend Lease included -- is hard at work devising a new name, one of which, according to Mr. Miller, will "move toward a new global brand for the entire company."

Mr. Miller said the firm hopes to unveil a new name by the end of the year. If he had even a hint of what the new name might be, he wasn't saying. Corporate identities are a sensitive issue.

"The name of the company is the foundation of everything you do, so it's very essential," he said. "The decision will be made at the highest levels of the company, and the shareholders of Lend Lease will have to approve any change."

The situation at ERE Yarmouth is not unusual in the shopping center industry, where the recent wave of megamergers is resulting in lots of new names, while still more old names are retired or reappearing in hyphenated forms.

Simon DeBartolo Group -- whose name already reflects the 1996 merger between Simon Property Group and DeBartolo Realty -- is also considering another name change pending its acquisition of Corporate Property Investors, said a spokesman for the Indianapolis-based developer.

The name TrizecHahn was likewise created as a result of a merger ("Tri" meaning three companies of the Zeckendorf "Zec" family, and "Hahn" from The Hahn Co.).

"Some people think it sounds like a German chemical company, but people remember it," said Jack Illes, executive director of strategic projects for TrizecHahn.

A company name "is not something that you determine casually," Mr. Miller said. "There are all sorts of issues that go into a name -- for instance how it works internationally. Some names won't work in certain parts of the world; in our case, we'll need it to work across the globe."

Many large companies are turning to consultants to do the creative work of matching a name to a company for them. One such company, Sausalito, Calif.-based Lexicon Branding Inc., has grown through naming companies and products for Fortune 500 companies -- it came up with names such as Pentium for Intel's processor chip, PowerBook for the laptop computer and Embassy Suites for the hotel chain.

A consultant helped Jones Lang Wootton Reality Advisors, a New York-based real estate advisory firm, come up with its new name, Clarion Partners. The name switch became necessary when the company dissolved its joint venture with Jones Lang Wootton USA, which itself was a division of London-based Jones Lang Wootton International, said Doug Casey, senior director of investment strategy for Clarion.

Companies often confront legal issues related to trademarks and copyrights when changing names. They should also be concerned about the design and look of a new name -- not to mention all the business cards and company letterhead on which that name will be emblazoned.

"It's a very basic and simple thing on the one hand," said Mr. Miller, "and an extremely complex matter on the other hand."