GBG Seeks to Extend North American Reach With Acuant Acquisition

“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.” – Chris Clark, CEO, GBG

GBG is further expanding its footprint in the identity verification and anti-fraud space with another big acquisition. The company has sealed an agreement to buy Acuant in a deal that values the latter at $736 million on a cash- and debt-free basis.

The deal comes after GBG’s acquisition of IDology in 2019 in a $300 million all-cash transaction. IDology, known for its ExpectID identity verification platform, has since continued to operate under its own branding.

Likewise, Acuant is best known for a remote identity verification solution based primarily on facial recognition technology, which is used to match end users’ selfie images to pictures of their official identity documents. Acuant upgraded its Trusted Identity Platform with a video-based selfie authentication capability this past summer.

With Acuant currently serving over 1,000 clients, its combination with GBG will realize the creation of a company with combined revenues of c.£265 million, according to GBG.

“The combination of our two businesses is a complementary and powerful one,” explained GBG CEO Chris Clark. “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.”

In addition to bringing Acuant’s client roster and its biometric identity verification technology into its portfolio, the acquisition is also expected to help London-based GBG to extend its presence in the North American market.

“The US is the largest and most strategic market for location, identity and fraud services,” Clark noted. “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.”

The deal marks the latest instance of heightened M&A activity in the identity and security technology space this year, with recent examples including SecureAuth’s acquisition of Acceptto and Onfido’s acquisition of EYN.

FindBiometrics’ Doug OGorden recently spoke with IDology CEO Christina Luttrell at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas.

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November 18, 2021 – by Alex Perala