Richard White, the founder of software and services company WiseTech (ASX: WTC), has acquired data security company Kyckr (formerly ASX: KYK).
The business was delisted from the ASX on 7 November after White acquired it for $43.5 million.
Kyckr is a data security company that provides technology for know your customer (KYC) processes in financial services and supply chains internationally. The technology can identify the ultimate beneficial owner of a company via registries in more than 100 countries in seconds.
Founded in Ireland in 2007, Kyckr expanded to Australia and listed on the ASX in September 2016. Following further expansion, the company now has its headquarters in London.
Kyckr has been acquired by White’s personal investment company RealWise KYK AV Pty Ltd and is the tech billionaire’s largest private investment to date.
White has personal investments in other technology companies including music licensing service Songtradr, computer monitor business Espresso Display and biotech Genics.
White said: “Businesses today operate in an increasingly interconnected global marketplace, where compliance with laws and regulations related to anti-money laundering, sanctions and an ever-expanding list of financial crime typologies is becoming increasingly high-risk, complex, time consuming and costly.
“I see in Kyckr the opportunity to replace manual processes and aggregate real time data from disparate sources to provide a scalable, reliable, highly compliant and cost-effective KYC/KYB/UBO tech platform solution in the same way that WiseTech’s CargoWise has replaced multiple single-point legacy systems in the complex and fragmented global logistics sector.”
Kyckr has been led for the past four years by Scotsman Ian Henderson who has extensive experience in banking in the UK. Henderson will continue as chief executive under White’s ownership.
Henderson welcomed White taking control of the company saying Kyckr will benefit from his “strategic guidance, support and vision”.
White retains a 40% stake in WiseTech which has a current market capitalisation of $17.78 billion.
Image: How Kyckr’s technology works.