FIRST ADVANTAGE CORP

Overview

First Advantage Corporation is a global technology and data-services company focused on employment background screening, identity verification and workforce risk management. Its services include criminal-record searches, education and employment verifications, drug and health screening, identity solutions and ongoing risk monitoring; it serves customers in more than 200 countries and territories.[1]+2

The company serves more than 80,000 customers, from small and mid-sized businesses to global enterprises, through business segments spanning the Americas, Europe, India and Asia Pacific, as well as its Sterling business. Its stated mission is “to deliver innovative solutions and insights to help our customers manage risk and hire the best talent.” [1]+2

First Advantage reported fiscal 2025 revenue of $1.574 billion. A secondary-source estimate lists 9,500 employees as of December 31, 2025.[5]+2 [1]+6

Products & services

First Advantage offers configurable background-screening services, including identity/SSN checks; federal, state and county criminal-record searches; sex-offender registry and global-sanctions checks; and employment and education verification. Criminal searches draw on its proprietary National Criminal Records File and court and other public records. Employment and education checks use the Verified! database, SmartHub technology, internal fulfillment and other data providers.[8]+3

Identity and fraud-screening capabilities include government-ID and document validation, liveness detection, digital fingerprint collection, facial and biometric matching, telecom/device and SSN checks, and live-video identity proofing. Drug and health services include urine, saliva, hair and blood tests, physical exams and instant oral-fluid screening. RoadReady supports driver and fleet compliance through background and motor-vehicle-record checks, drug testing, driver-file management and monitoring, as well as vehicle title, registration, permits, fuel-tax and transponder management. Other offerings include contingent-worker screening, healthcare credential and exclusions checks, FBI fingerprint channeling, and executive investigations.[12]+9

The available reporting describes configurable screening mixes but does not provide revenue percentages by individual product or service; revenue is reported by operating segment instead.[3][22] [8]+15

Geographic presence

First Advantage screens in more than 200 countries and territories, with major market presence in the United States, the United Kingdom, and India. Its FY2025 revenue was approximately 86% U.S. and 14% international; the company does not disclose a detailed country-level breakdown for that year.[23]

For the six months ended June 30, 2026, reported revenue was $722.477 million in the United States and $111.487 million in all other countries, or approximately 86.6% and 13.4% of total revenue, respectively. The company groups non-U.S. revenue together in this disclosure.[24][25] As of December 31, 2025, it had more than 9,500 employees across 19 countries, without a country-level employee breakdown.[26] Its listed office locations include the United States, Australia, India, the Philippines, and England.[27][28] [23]+8

Business segments

First Advantage reports three operating segments: First Advantage Americas, First Advantage International, and Sterling. Americas covers background screening and compliance services across the United States, Canada, and Latin America; International provides similar legacy First Advantage services primarily in Europe, India, and Asia-Pacific; Sterling provides similar services globally.[29]+2

For FY2025, segment revenue was $701.6 million for Americas (approximately 44.3%), $104.9 million for International (6.6%), and $777.2 million for Sterling (49.1%). These percentages are calculated from the sum of the three segments’ reported revenues before intersegment eliminations; the company separately reported $9.3 million of eliminations.[32] In the six months ended June 30, 2026, external revenue was $388.3 million from Americas (46.6%), $45.7 million from International (5.5%), and $400.0 million from Sterling (48.0%), of $834.0 million total.[33] [29]+11

Company history

First Advantage began operations in 2003 through the combination of First American’s screening-information business and US SEARCH’s consumer-location and enterprise background-screening businesses. Available sources describe the businesses’ combination but do not identify individual founders.[34][35]

After First American moved to acquire the remaining publicly held shares in 2009, the company’s ownership changed again in 2010. Following the separation of First American and CoreLogic, CoreLogic sold First Advantage’s Employer Services and Litigation Support businesses to Symphony Technology Group; the transaction closed at the end of 2010, with the businesses operating under the First Advantage name.[36]+2 Silver Lake agreed to acquire First Advantage in 2019 and completed the purchase in January 2020.[39]

In 2021, First Advantage became a publicly traded company, with its shares beginning to trade on Nasdaq in June. That year, it expanded internationally by acquiring GB Group’s U.K. background-screening business, and also announced acquisitions of Corporate Screening Services in the U.S. and MultiLatin Advisors in Mexico.[40]+2

In 2024, Joelle Smith became President, effective September 16.[43] First Advantage completed its acquisition of Sterling Check on October 31, 2024, in a transaction valued at $2.2 billion including assumed debt.[44] [39]+10

Sources

• FIRST ADVANTAGE CORP — Full financial report (2026 Q 2)
  10 citations

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• fadv.com[4]
• FIRST ADVANTAGE CORP — Full financial report (2025 Y)
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• stockanalysis.com[7]
• fadv.com[11]
• fadv.com[20]
• fadv.com[21]
• fadv.com[28]
• www.sec.gov[34]
• www.alta.org[35]
• www.sec.gov[36]
• www.sec.gov[37]
• www.sec.gov[38]
• FIRST ADVANTAGE CORP — Ipo (2021 O)
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• fadv.com[42]
• investors.fadv.com[43]
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