Marlin completes growth equity investment in SmartSearch

LOS ANGELES and LONDON, October 9, 2019 – Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) is pleased to announce that it has completed a growth equity investment in SmartSearch Ltd. (“SmartSearch”), a leading U.K.-based provider of automated regulatory technology software focused on anti-money laundering and know your customer compliance solutions. The company’s multi-tenant SaaS platform allows clients to maintain and comply with the latest compliance regulations, improve customer experience in the onboarding process, and benefit from significant time and cost savings for traditionally manual processes.

“We have created a fully-integrated platform capable of addressing the compliance obligations of one of the world’s most heavily regulated markets,” said John Dobson, CEO of SmartSearch. “In Marlin, we have found a like-minded partner with a deep understanding of our sector and look forward to leveraging their expertise to further extend our market leading position within the U.K. and accelerate the expansion of our global reach to serve new clients internationally.”

“SmartSearch’s robust regulatory compliance platform provides industry-leading accuracy rates and strong customer advocacy,” stated Roland Pezzutto, a principal at Marlin. “With increasing regulatory scrutiny and the desire for seamless customer onboarding, SmartSearch is well-positioned to capitalize on the current shift towards digital verification solutions and we look forward to collaborating with an exceptional management team to support the company’s rapid growth trajectory.”

About Marlin Equity Partners     

Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with over $6.7 billion of capital under management. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthen a company’s outlook and enhance value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 150 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.

About SmartSearch

SmartSearch is a leading provider of a regulatory compliance software platform that enables customers to adhere to the latest anti-money laundering (AML), customer due diligence and know your customer (KYC) obligations. The company is the only organization in the U.K. that utilizes multi-bureau data sources to cover all aspects of KYC within a single platform, including comprehensive identity and sanctions verification, politically exposed persons and adverse media screening, and ongoing customer monitoring. With no requirement for clients to provide identity documents, SmartSearch’s automated verification approach is significantly more convenient for both users and their end customers – with individual AML checks taking less than 30 seconds and business checks taking less than three minutes to process from start to finish. SmartSearch’s software is delivered to clients in numerous end markets, including top accountancy firms, law firms, banks, mortgage intermediaries and estate agents. For more information, please visit www.smartsearch.com.

For additional information, please contact Peter Spasov at (310) 364-0100 or via e-mail at pspasov@marlinequity.com.