Strategic acquisition creates global leader,
transforming digital identity and fraud prevention
- Combination supports GBG’s purpose to build trust in a digital
world, delivering differentiated solutions for all points of the
identity verification and identity fraud customer journey
- Acquisition enables GBG to further expand into the US – the
world’s largest and most strategically important market for
location, identity and fraud services
- Combination accelerates GBG’s data, product and technology
ambitions, delivering world-class technology across the customer
lifecycle and bringing together the industry’s most skilled experts
in identity verification and fraud prevention
GB Group plc (AIM:GBG), the experts in digital location,
identity and identity fraud software, has today announced that it
has reached agreement to acquire Acuant, a leading identity
verification and KYC/AML compliance provider, for a cash-free,
debt-free enterprise value of $736 million. The acquisition of
Acuant brings together two of the leaders in the global digital
identity market with a combined revenue of c.£265 million.
A long-time partner, Acuant has a product suite that is a
natural complement to GBG’s existing US-based services from
IDology. The acquisition creates a leader in the strategically
important North American market and accelerates the rollout of
GBG’s identity and fraud solutions globally. The combined product
portfolio will provide the industry’s best end-to-end capabilities
and an enhanced technology platform that will support both
companies’ existing network of partners and customers as they
manage billions of global transactions across multiple industry
sectors.
Acuant has purposefully developed its Trusted Identity Platform
with a powerful orchestration layer and easy to configure journey
builder, making best-in-class technology accessible to all. This
platform enables the seamless combination of data, documents,
biometrics and analytics for consumption across the entire customer
lifecycle: onboarding, step-up authentication, KYC/AML compliance,
fraud and risk analysis, real-time monitoring and identity re-use.
These capabilities, available as point solutions or integrated
services, are applicable across all consumer or citizen facing
markets and can be deployed globally, building upon GBG’s existing
presence in APAC and EMEA.
The platform is scalable internationally, allowing GBG and
Acuant customers to deploy solutions in multiple geographies and
accelerating GBG’s growth in APAC and Europe.
The global identity verification market is projected to reach
$15.8 billion by 2025 and the fast-growing identity fraud market is
projected to be worth $9.6 billion by 20251. GBG’s acquisition of
Acuant strengthens its offering in both markets with a solution for
any industry that needs to trust an identity, whether driven by
managing compliance, reducing the cost of fraud or improving
customer experience at the point of purchase.
GBG and Acuant share a common vision to create a platform that
enables trust in the digital economy, and this vision is
underpinned by similar cultures and common values, proven over
years of collaboration on existing commercial projects. Acuant
brings a team of over 200 highly experienced digital IDV
professionals and over 1,000 customers, with nearly half of
revenues powered by Acuant’s strong channel partner network.
This transaction is expected to complete all necessary legal and
regulatory steps by end November 2021.
Chris Clark, Chief Executive Officer at GBG, said: “We
are delighted to announce the acquisition of Acuant. It is a
business that we have worked with and admired for many years. The
combination of our two businesses is a complementary and powerful
one. Together we create a global leader in data, document and
biometric identity verification services and strengthen our mutual
capability to capitalise on the fast-growing identity fraud
market.
The US is the largest and most strategic market for location,
identity and fraud services. The combination of GBG and Acuant
provides a step-change in this market, increasing scale, growing
our customer base and introducing us to new and exciting sectors.
As importantly, it also strengthens the breadth of our technology
portfolio which we can use to support our current customers in new
ways in growth geographies such as APAC and Europe where we already
have a strong footprint.
The team at Acuant brings new skills and talent to GBG, as well
as an aligned culture and shared vision to enable trust in the
digital economy. We are excited about the potential of the combined
businesses and the acceleration this gives to our strategic
goals.”
Yossi Zekri, Chief Executive Officer at Acuant, said:
“This is an exciting day for Acuant. We are very proud of
everything that Acuant has achieved to date – building a
world-class technology portfolio and a strong market position
across multiple sectors. There is still significant opportunity
ahead and joining the GBG family is the best way for us to
capitalise on those opportunities. Our customer, technology and
geographical mix are complementary and culturally we are aligned in
our mission, vision, and how we invest in our people and look after
our customers. We are very much looking forward to working together
in the years ahead.”
About GBG
GBG are the experts in digital location, identity and identity
fraud software, helping organisations across the globe eliminate
friction from their digital experiences. GBG develop and deliver
digital identity, address verification, fraud prevention and
compliance software to over 20,000 customers globally.
Through the combination of the latest technology, the most
accurate data and unrivalled expertise, GBG helps organisations
ranging from start-ups to the largest consumer and technology
brands in the world deliver seamless experiences, enabling their
customers to transact online with greater confidence.
Headquartered in the UK with over 1,000 team members across 15
countries.
To find out more about how we help our customers establish trust
with their customers, visit www.gbgplc.com.
About Acuant
Acuant’s Trusted Identity Platform empowers businesses and
governments to transact with trust in our digital world. Acuant
establishes trust in seconds anywhere consumers, governments and
businesses want to transact, fighting fraud and fast-tracking
trusted identities. The ability to build, verify, monitor and
securely share digital identities with Acuant’s inclusive
technology is accessible to the entire global population.
AI-powered identity verification and regulatory compliance
(AML/KYC) solutions deliver unparalleled results and operational
efficiency with omni-channel deployment.
Completing more than 1.5 billion transactions in over 200
countries and territories, Acuant powers trust globally for
industry leaders in finance, crypto, retail, healthcare, gaming,
hospitality and more.
_________________ 1 Source: Markets and Markets Identity
Verification, and Fraud Detection and Prevention Reports
(2020-2021).
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211119005288/en/
Hannah Williams PR Network 00 44 7980 726 004
hannah@hannahwilliamspr.com
Kathy Berardi Carabiner Communications 678.644.4122
kberardi@carabinercomms.com
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