UK-headquartered identity verification and fraud prevention company GBG has entered an agreement to acquire Acuant, a leading identity verification and KYC/AML compliance provider for a value of $736m.
The two companies, with a combined revenue of £265m, will provide the industry with an enhanced technology platform that will support both companies’ existing network of partners and customers. The acquisition will enable GBG to accelerate its data, product and technology ambitions, and the rollout of its identity fraud solutions globally.
According to GBG, Acuant has a product suite that is a “natural complement” to its existing US-based services from IDology. Its Trusted Identity Platform, for example, enables the 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.
According to the Markets and Markets Identity Verification, and Fraud Detection and Prevention Reports (2020-2021), the global identity verification market is projected to reach $15.8bn by 2025, and the identity fraud market is project to be worth $9.6bn by 2025. The acquisition, GBG said, strengthens its offering to 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.
Moreover, the partnership enables GBG to expand into the US market, as well as support current customers in APAC and Europe. According to the company’s CEO Chris Clark, the US is the “largest and most strategic market for location, identity and fraud services.”
Chris Clark, CEO at GBG, said, “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.”
This transaction is expected to complete all necessary legal and regulatory steps by end of this month.
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