PR93168

GBG announces it has agreed to acquire Acuant, bringing together two leaders in the global digital identity market with combined revenue of c.pounds 265 million

LONDON, Nov. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- 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.pounds 265 million.

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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 2025[i]. 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).