RELX Group to Acquire ThreatMetrix for £580 Million

RELX Group has made a deal to acquire digital identity security specialist ThreatMetrix. The IT services firm intends to acquire the entire issued share capital of ThreatMetrix for £580 million in cash.

The plan is to fold ThreatMetrix into RELX Group’s Risk & Business Analytics division, and for good reason. ThreatMetrix’s flagship platform, the Digital Identity Network, is used by 5,000 customers around the world, and supports sophisticated digital security mechanisms including device pairing and FIDO-compliant biometric authentication. In fact, some of ThreatMetrix’s device intelligence solutions have already been incorporated into RELX Group’s LexisNexis Risk Solutions Risk Defense Platform, with the acquisition representing the culmination of a two year relationship between the companies.

In a statement announcing the acquisition, RELX Risk & Business Analytics CEO Mark Kelsey lauded ThreatMetrix as a “widely recognized… leader in the digital identity space,” adding that the full incorporation of its technologies into RELX’s portfolio will offer clients “a more reliable, comprehensive approach to fraud and identity risk management while maintaining the privacy and security principles our customers have come to expect.”

The deal may represent a broader M&A trend in the digital security sector, with the last month alone having seen the announcement of One Identity’s acquisition of Balabit, NEC’s purchase of NPS, and Facebook’s acquisition of biometric ID verification startup Confirm.io. RELX Group’s purchase of ThreatMetrix is expected to close in the first half of this year.

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January 31, 2018 – by Alex Perala