Identity management business GB Group has acquired Data Discoveries for a total of £610,000.

Identity management business GB Group has acquired Data Discoveries for a total of £610,000.

Edinburgh-based Data Discoveries provides trace software to the Government and the debt collection industry which allows them to trace and make contact with individuals.

According to a statement, the services provided by Data Discoveries are similar to those in GB Group’s ID Trace business. The deal will see the merging of the two entities in order to access a wider market.

The acquisition will diversify GB’s customer base, says chief executive Richard Law, and increase its geographical coverage within the UK.

Law adds: ‘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.’

AIM-listed GB Group moved to the junior market in August 2010 when it delisted from the main market. The deal for Data Discoveries is the first undertaken by GB since its transfer to AIM.

Under the terms of the deal Cheshire-based GB is paying £550,000 in cash and issuing shares worth £60,000.

The identity management company has two main divisions, DataAuthentication which provides identity verification targeting ID fraud, money laundering and under-age gambling, and DataSolutions, which supplies information to clients about their clients.

Data Discoveries had revenues of £1.7 million for the year to date 30 June 2011 and profit before tax which was ‘broadly breakeven’.