March 23, 2021 (Vancouver, BC) – GeoComply Solutions Inc. (“GeoComply” or “the Company”) announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement for minority investments led by funds managed by Blackstone Growth (“Blackstone”) and from Atairos. The partnership – which represents the first commitment of institutional capital to the company – aims to support GeoComply’s continued growth in its core markets and help accelerate expansion into new verticals.
GeoComply operates at the center of a new generation of cybersecurity companies, leveraging advanced geolocation data to make better risk-based decisions. Working as a critical piece of the infrastructure for some of the world’s largest tech companies, GeoComply has become a global market-leader for compliance-grade geolocation data, which provides an important piece of the risk industries’ decision-making engine.
“Our mission at GeoComply is to empower the future of Digital Trust, and with Blackstone and Atairos as investors, we are taking a material leap forward to make it a reality,” said Anna Sainsbury, Founder and Chairman of GeoComply. “GeoComply has received countless investment enquiries over the past few years but was in the fortunate position to wait until the right opportunity came along. In Blackstone and Atairos, we found the investors we were looking for, not only with deep insight into Software and Gaming, but also the Financial Services & Broadcasting verticals. We valued their ability to trust and empower founders like David and me to maintain our company values as we execute to our fullest potential. Their integrity and professionalism throughout the process was exceptional and we welcome their expertise and guidance as we grow our business and move into new markets.”
Vishal Amin, a Managing Director at Blackstone Growth, said: “We are deeply proud to have been selected as GeoComply’s first institutional backers and invest in a clear market leader. We believe the company is poised for significant further expansion in the years ahead – particularly given their mission-critical role in delivering compliance software solutions to the fast-growing, global online gaming and sports betting industry. Anna and David have built an incredible business, and we are excited to work closely with them as they look to further increase the company’s already strong leadership position into new markets and opportunities.”
“GeoComply continues to innovate and provide its clients with a first-class, mission critical service,” said Alex Evans, Partner at Atairos. “We are excited to partner with Anna, David and the entire GeoComply management team, and we look forward to leveraging our experience to help the company continue to scale and expand into new verticals.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. acted as sole financial advisor to GeoComply and Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP and Sheppard Mullin acted as legal advisors. Paul Weiss acted as legal advisor, and The Raine Group and Deloitte also acted as advisors to Blackstone. Davis Polk and Duane Morris LLP acted as legal advisors to Atairos.
About GeoComply
GeoComply is a global leader in geolocation and compliance technology. Founded in 2011, GeoComply has quickly become the digital industry’s trusted solution for reliable, secure and accurate geolocation services. GeoComply currently supports the location verification requirements for iGaming, Broadcasting and FinTech, with customers including Amazon Video, BBC, Roku, Draft Kings, Akamai, FanDuel & MGM.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $619 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
About Atairos
Atairos is an independent, private company focused on supporting growth-oriented businesses across a wide range of industries. Atairos provides a unique combination of active strategic partnership and patient long-term capital to high-potential companies and their management teams. Atairos was launched in 2016 and has in excess of $5 billion of equity capital. Atairos has offices in New York City, Philadelphia, and London. For more information, please visit www.atairos.com
Media Contacts
GeoComply
Randy Halischuk
Randy@geoguard.com
Blackstone
Matt Anderson
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com
Atairos
Jared Levy / Ben Spicehandler
Sard Verbinnen & Co
Atairos-SVC@sardverb.com
