TransUnion Closes Neustar Deal for $3.1 Billion, Excludes Security Business

TransUnion has purchased Neustar for $3.1 billion from a private investment group led by Golden Gate Capital and with minority participation by GIC.

Neustar is an identity resolution company. It offers solutions in marketing, fraud and communications. In addition, it enables customers to use decision analytics with real-time identity resolution services.

Secure Online Transactions

TransUnion’s Chris Cartwright

Chris Cartwright is president and CEO of TransUnion. The company has 20 acquisitions to boast in its five-decade history.

“We look forward to beginning a smooth integration of the two businesses,” Cartwright said. “As digital commerce continues to grow globally, we’re confident that TransUnion’s powerful digital identity assets, augmented by Neustar’s distinctive talent, data, digital resolution capabilities, and products and services will extend trust among consumers and businesses and enhance our position as a global information and insights company.”

Charlie Gottdiener, president and CEO of Neustar, said this is an exciting milestone for the company.

“Solutions that facilitate global commerce by enabling secure online transactions are in great demand in today’s growing digital economy,” Gottdiener said. “The combination of TransUnion’s powerful digital identity assets and Neustar’s distinctive data and identity resolution capabilities presents enormous opportunities ahead.”

A Spin Out Security Business

However, Neustar’s security business, Neustar Security Services, is excluded from the transaction. It now operates as a standalone portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital and GIC.

Consequently, the spin out marks Neustar Security Services’ entry into its next phase of growth with the focused backing of its investors, the company says. Since 2019, Brian McCann has served as president of Neustar’s security business. He is now CEO of Neustar Security Services. Additionally, he will lead the company’s more than 250 employees.

Neustar Security Services’ Brian McCann

“Through the successful execution of its multi-year transformation strategy, Neustar Security Services established a highly scalable, fully cloud-delivered platform with capacity to support multiple mission-critical security services with the highest service and performance in the industry,” McCann said. “Our core DNS, DDoS and application security services provide the industry’s best combination of performance, availability, and security for any enterprise. The Neustar Security Services team remains focused on delivering reliability and demonstrating our commitment to always doing more for our customers while developing additional industry-leading services and further expanding our global reach.”