Vincent McCartney (Verifi/Cloudcheck)
London-listed identity verification software firm GBG Group has acquired New Zealand's Verifi Identity Services, more commonly known as Cloudcheck.
GBG will pay NZ$20 million for Verifi comprising of an NZ$12 million in cash and the issue $8 million of shares in GBG.
Depending upon growth, payments of up to $4 million may become payable on completion of both the 31 March 2023 financial year and again in 2024.
Cloudcheck is a leading electronic identity verification and anti-money laundering system founded in 2012 in Auckland by legal and financial services professionals Tyler McNamee and Vincent McCartney and interactive developers Karl von Randow and Matthew Buchanan of Cactuslab.
The four founders have roughly equal 25 per cent shareholdings.
GBG said Cloudcheck was renowned for its ease of use, configurability and value, and complemented GBG’s identity strategy with experienced local presence and best-of-breed domestic solutions, including data sources and technologies to meet New Zealand’s electronic identity verification guidelines.
”This acquisition follows GBG’s successful model for global identity services: combining our internationally sourced data and expertise with locally relevant capability and is aligned to our strategy – providing an opportunity to expand regionally, broadening the services we offer existing customers, increasing our market share, and driving long-term sustainable growth, said GBG managing director APAC Dev Dhiman.
Cloudcheck lists a host of local users on its website including Craigs Investment Partners, Milford Asset Management, Sharesies, Lotto, Harcourts and NZ Funds among others.
Cloudcheck's software-as-a-service revenue model is based on an annual subscription fee plus volume-based usage fee. In the year to 31 March 2022, Cloudcheck is expected to generate approximately $5 million in revenue and $2 million EBITDA.
“After a decade of building Cloudcheck to be the market leader in New Zealand, this is an exciting stage in our journey as we become part of an organisation and network that reaches every corner of the world with truly end-to-end solutions across IDV, AML, compliance and fraud prevention,” said Vincent McCartney, managing director of Verifi.
”As we continue to operate independently in New Zealand, our customers and partners can look forward to still receiving the same great service they already get from our team, with the added benefits of being able to easily expand or deepen their approaches to identity verification and anti-money laundering.”
In 2018 and 2019, Verifi placed highly in the Deloitte Technology Asia Pacific Fast 50.
