GB Group acquires Scottish rival
CHESTER-based identity management and marketing company GB Group has acquired Edinburgh’s Data Discoveries in a £610,000 deal.
Data Discoveries provides software to Government and the debt collection industry which enables organisations to trace and contact individuals.
GB Group said it offered similar services to its ID Trace arm and it expects the combined business to be the market leader.
In the year to June 30, Data Discoveries’ revenue was £1.7m, while profit before tax was “broadly breakeven” and it had net assets of £200,000. GB is paying £550,000 in cash and issuing shares worth £60,000. It expects the deal to earnings enhancing in the first year.
GB has two main divisions, DataAuthentication which offers an identity verification service aimed at tackling ID fraud, money laundering and under-age gambling, and DataSolutions, which provides clients with information on their customers.
Chief executive Richard Law said: “This acquisition of Data Discoveries is an excellent strategic fit which will further strengthen GB Group’s ID Trace business by diversifying its customer base, broadening its addressable markets and increasing its geographical coverage within the UK.
“GB Group has achieved pleasing growth in this sector in recent years as a result of its ability to better understand individuals and their behaviour which continues to form a core part of GB Group’s strategy to be the UK’s leader in identity management.”
Andrew Millar, a Manchester-based partner at law firm Squire Sanders Hammonds, advised GB on the deal.
