Boise-based Kount will soon have a new owner. Equifax announced it would buy the fraud prevention company for $ 640 million.
“The acquisition of Kount will expand Equifax’s differentiated data assets to bring global companies the information and solutions they need to establish online identity trust,” said Equifax CEO Mark W. Begor in a press release . “Our investments in data cloud and technology allow us to quickly and aggressively integrate new data and analytical assets, such as Kount, into our global capabilities and bring new market-leading products and solutions to our customers.”
Equifax is known to consumers as one of the three largest credit monitoring companies, but has several other businesses in the financial sector.
Kount was launched in 2007 in Boise, growing steadily over the years as a private company. It opened a new headquarters building in Downtown Boise in 2019. Investment firm CVC Capital Partners made a major $ 80 million investment in the company in 2016.
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Kount has a number of patents and offers products focused on protecting against digital fraud.
Kount to stay in Boise
Kount will maintain its headquarters in Boise, according to Equifax, and employees will be part of the largest company’s United States Information Solutions group.
“We are excited to be able to offer Kount solutions with a wide range of data, analysis and Equifax products,” said Kount CEO Bradley Wiskirchen. “Equifax’s global reach will accelerate Kount’s international adoption, allowing us to help more companies around the world better protect their digital innovations and their customers against emerging threats, improving the customer experience.”
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Equifax says it expects to close the deal in the first quarter of this year.
Kount is the latest startup from Boise to see an acquisition of a larger company. Last fall, Cradlepoint sold its business to Ericcson in a billion dollar business. In 2018, the spreadsheets were sold to Intuit. In the case of both businesses, the new owner maintained strong presence and local employees.