The Nov. 18 deal will combine the companies’ product portfolios to provide end-to-end capabilities and an enhanced technology platform that will support both companies’ existing networks of partners and customers. The companies manage billions of global transactions across multiple industry sectors.
Acuant’s platform enables businesses to identify fraud while addressing evolving security concerns in the digital economy. Its solutions use AI-powered identity verification throughout the customer journey to provide real-time transaction monitoring and reuse of trusted identities. The company operates in more than 200 countries and territories.
Chris Clark, chief executive at GBG, sees Acuant’s U.S. location as a strategic move to grow its customer base and enter new sectors.
GBG develops and delivers digital identity, address verification, fraud prevention and compliance software to more than 20,000 customers globally. Altogether, GBG has more than 2,000 employees with a significant portion of its workforce dedicated to research and development.
“The U.S. is the largest and most strategic market for location, identity and fraud services,” Clark said in a statement. “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. … It also strengthens the breadth of our technology portfolio, which we can use to support our current customers in new ways.”
Acuant was founded in Los Angeles in 1999 and has since expanded globally, with offices in Palo Alto; Manchester, N.H.; Spokane, Wash.; Belgium; the United Kingdom; Israel; and Mexico.
Yossi Zekri, chief executive at Acuant, told the Business Journal that as the company joins GBG, there will be continued expansion globally with a more immediate focus on the Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific markets.
Zekri said there will be no changes to Acuant’s executive team or staff of more than 200 globally.
The acquisition is expected to complete regulatory and legal steps by the end of this month.
