GB Group selling 'Employ and Comply' business

Identity data company GB Group has agreed to sell its Employ and Comply business unit to background and employment screening specialist First Advantage, it announced on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said the sale would support its strategy of focusing on its core global capabilities of location intelligence, identity verification and fraud prevention.

It said the Employ and Comply business is focussed on the UK market.

GB Group said Employ and Comply would receive the “focus, scale and investment” necessary to continue its corporate development, describing First Advantage as one of the world’s largest screening providers, conducting more than 75 million screening checks annually with over 35,000 customers.

Employ and Comply is currently part of GB Group's identity segment, and accounted for around 3.4% of group revenue in the 2020 financial year.

“We recognise that employment screening services require specialist market capability,” said chief executive officer Chris Clark.

“First Advantage has a global capability in background screening services and is a business that shares many of our values.

“We believe we've found a great home for our customers and our people who will bring great expertise, energy and capability to First Advantage in the UK.”

At 0936 BST, shares in GB Group were up 1.42% at 860.2p.