Relx To Buy ThreatMetrix For £580

Relx — a U.K.-based information and analytics firm — has formally agreed to purchase ThreatMetrix for 580 million pounds ($819 million) in cash. ThreatMetrix analyzes some 100 million transactions per day to hunt for cases of fraud and is considered one of the largest repositories of online digital identities on the planet, according to Reuters reporting.

ThreatMetrix will fold into Relx’s Risk & Business Analytics, which operates under the LexisNexis Risk Solutions brand, to spot fraud.

“The acquisition is in line with our organic growth-driven strategy, supported by acquisitions of targeted data sets and analytics that are natural additions to our existing business,” Risk & Business Analytics CEO Mark Kelsey said on Monday.

PYMNTS recently spoke with Ben Cutler, senior director of small business risk management at LexisNexis Risk Solutions about how his specific section of Relx in LexisNexis works hard to use the data it gathers to make the market a more efficient and inclusive place.

“What we are seeing from our customers is that they need to secure additional [small business] clients to grow, but many of their applicants just don’t have a lot of information [about] them,” he said, noting that the more efficiently they can use data to track individuals and SMBs, the more useful data they can offer to lenders who work with SMBs.

And, with their new big buy, it looks like Relx is going to be able update — and enhance — those consumer profiles.