London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSEG) announced on Tuesday its decision to acquire Global Data Consortium Inc (GDC), which is providing identity verification data for supporting clients with know-your-customer (KYC ) requirements.
The London-based financial conglomerate is expecting to close the acquisition deal by the first half of 2021, after which it will become a part of LSEG’s Data & Analytics division. However, neither the companies disclosed the terms of the deal.
“Adding GDC to the suite of digital identity solutions within our Data & Analytics division, will enable us to continue to expand our capabilities in this high growth segment, through both direct sales and channel partnerships,” said Andrea Remyn Stone, LSEG’s Global Head for Data and Analytics.
A Strategic Acquisition
GDC was founded in 2012 and is delivering high-speed infrastructure for electronic digital identity verification. It pulls customer data from over 300 global sources spanning 70 countries, thus making the identity verification process fast.
Prior to the acquisition decision, LSEG has been using GDC’s services for its customers and third-party risk businesses. Moreover, Refinitiv, which LSEG acquired early last year, also bought an 11 percent stake in GDC in 2020.
“This transaction delivers a compelling opportunity to acquire a strategic capability aligned to our vision of becoming a market leading global Digital Identity and Fraud (DI&F) solutions provider. The acquisition of GDC, combined with our existing capabilities from GIACT and Qual-ID, will enable customers to verify digital identity and protect against fraud globally with a suite of real-time, accurate solutions,” said Phil Cotter, LSEG’s Group Head of Customer & Third-Party Risk Solutions.
The Founder and President of GDC, Bill Spruill said: “The opportunity to accelerate our global growth, leveraging the breadth and scale of LSEG, presents a compelling opportunity for our team to better serve our global customers delivering innovative new solutions for the market.”
