ATLANTA – First Advantage, a Symphony Technology Group (STG) company and the leading provider of background screening solutions, today announced that it has selected Scott Staples as the organization’s next chief executive officer. Staples, who currently serves as president of the Americas and head of vertical markets at Mindtree, a digital transformation and IT services company, will succeed First Advantage’s current CEO Mark Parise effective April 3, 2017.
After four years as First Advantage CEO and president, Mark Parise is transitioning from a day-to-day operating leadership role at First Advantage to an investor and strategic senior advisor to STG where he will continue his 14-year association with the firm. Parise played a critical role in growing First Advantage into the leading provider of background screening services in the world, with a global footprint and capabilities in 97 percent of the world’s recognized countries.
Staples joins First Advantage with 28 years of experience in the services sector. He co-founded Mindtree in 1999, growing the business from zero to $800 million in revenue and 16,000 worldwide employees. He helped take Mindtree public in 2007, and the Mindtree IPO became one of the most successful in the history of IT service. The company is now ranked by Gartner and Forrester as the industry’s best mid-sized IT Services firm and annually wins awards for corporate governance, innovation and best places to work.
“We are thrilled to introduce Scott as the new CEO of First Advantage,” said Romesh Wadhwani, chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group. “Scott has an outstanding track record of strong leadership. His entrepreneurial style, strong client focus, global experience and proven experience in driving innovation uniquely qualifies him to successfully lead First Advantage into the future.”
Prior to co-founding Mindtree, Staples was a director at Cambridge Technology Partners, where he was responsible for key accounts and drove e-business, CRM, IT strategy and application management initiatives for Fortune 1000 companies. He also served as a director of marketing for Gemini Consulting’s North American financial services practice. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware and a MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J.
“I’m honored, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead this exceptional organization of dedicated and talented professionals,” said Staples, who was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology Services in 2015. “First Advantage offers an advanced global technology platform and superior customer service delivered by experts who understand local markets, and help customers around the world build fully scalable, configurable screening programs that meet their unique needs. This is a terrific opportunity that any leader would welcome.”
About First Advantage
First Advantage provides comprehensive background screening, identity and information solutions that give employers and housing providers access to actionable information that results in faster, more accurate people decisions. With an advanced global technology platform and superior customer service delivered by experts who understand local markets, First Advantage helps customers around the world build fully scalable, configurable screening programs that meet their unique needs. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., First Advantage has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. More information about First Advantage can be accessed at www.fadv.com.
About Symphony Technology Group
Symphony Technology Group (STG) is a strategic private equity firm with the mission of investing in and being a partner in building great software and services companies. In addition to capital, STG provides transformation expertise to enable its portfolio companies to deliver more value to clients to retain and attract the best talent and to achieve best-in-class business performance. All STG portfolio companies are expected to grow through innovation. STG’s current portfolio consists of 12 global companies with combined revenue of approximately $2.5 billion and thousands of employees spread across North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.symphonytg.com.
