Insight Venture Partners, the New York-based, technology-focused private equity firm, has agreed to acquire Fourth, the leading software partner to the hospitality and leisure industries, from ECI Partners, for an undisclosed sum.
The two parties have signed an unconditional agreement, with the transaction set to complete in July.
Fourth, which works with more than 1,100 companies across the leisure and hospitality industries around the world, will join other Insight Venture Partners-backed companies such as Hootsuite, Kony, Photobox and Shopify. Previous investments by the group include Alibaba, Tumblr and Twitter.
Fourth said that the incoming new investment would pave the way for the continued expansion of its product portfolio as well as increased investment in innovation, operations and services.
As part of the deal, the existing management team lead by long-serving chief executive Ben Hood will remain at the helm to oversee the next phase in the development of the company.
Hood said: “It has been a very exciting stage of the Fourth journey with ECI supporting the team and its vision. We look forward to an exciting future given Insight Venture Partner’s international software growth expertise. We could not be happier to partner with Insight and we are confident in their support of Fourth in our next stage of growth.”
Fourth, which was established by restaurant and hospitality entrepreneurs Derek and Edwina Lilley, works with a number of leading hospitality firms such as CenterParcs, Eataly, Fuller’s, Hilton, Hyatt, Pizza Express, Soho House, Wagamama and Zuma.
Ross Devor, Principal, Insight Venture Partners, said: “Fourth is on a remarkable growth trajectory, delivering market-leading SaaS (software as a service) solutions focused on the hospitality industry’s most important cost drivers. We believe Fourth has an enormous opportunity ahead and we are excited to support the company’s vision to build a leading global business.”
