FRANKFURT, Germany, July 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Private equity company Battery Ventures acquires 100 per cent of the group's shares
IHS GmbH, a provider of technology and marketing solutions to the global hotel industry, announces that Battery Ventures, a private investment firm focused on technology and innovation worldwide, has acquired all of the group's shares from Kings Park Capital (KPC), an independent equity investment firm based in London, UK.
The transaction will enable IHS and its brands to build upon its customer-centric focus, drive continued organic growth, and pursue acquisition opportunities. In conjunction with the investment, Battery Executive in Residence, Steve Rowley, joins IHS as Chairman and CEO, and Battery's Dave Tabors and Morad Elhafed join its Board of Directors. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
IHS currently operates four business units under its umbrella, serving as a one-stop shop to the global hospitality industry: the international hotel group Worldhotels; the leading CRS provider Trust International; the sales management solutions provider Nexus World Services; and the training and benchmarking specialist IFH® Institute For Hospitality Management. The company supports 20,000 hotels in 65 countries, reaching approximately 120 million guests and helping its hospitality customers generate more than $3 billion in room revenue each year.
Battery's relevant experience in the travel industry includes investments in ITA Software (acquired by Google), Duetto Research (US), GoEuro (Berlin, Germany), HotelTonight (US), and Sabre (US). For a complete list of Battery's investments visit: http://www.battery.com/our-companies/list.
IHS' new Chairman and CEO, Steve Rowley, is taking over from David Richardson, who served as Chairman of the Supervisory Board as well as from Michael Ball, the company's former CEO. Steve Rowley is an experienced software executive with more than 20 years of technical, operational and sales experience in a variety of sectors. He joins IHS from Torex where he served as CEO.
"Since joining the Battery team and working alongside them on the due diligence for this investment, I have been impressed with the IHS management team, track record, product set and happy customers," says Steve Rowley, incoming Chairman and CEO.
"Having Battery as a strategic and financial partner will help accelerate growth and continue to deliver high quality, innovative solutions to customers worldwide. This is a large and strategic market and I look forward to working with the team to fuel both organic growth and to aggressively pursue acquisitions to expand the value we can deliver to customers."
About IHS GmbH:
As a powerful international player, IHS GmbH creates added value for hotel groups and independent hotels by drawing on the combined resources and expertise of all its businesses.
IHS was established in 2007 as a unique portfolio of companies serving the hospitality industry with a wide range of technology, distribution and service solutions. Operating under the umbrella of IHS are the leading global CRS provider, Trust International; one of the leading groups for independent hotels worldwide, Worldhotels; the global provider of training and benchmarking solutions, IFH® Institute For Hospitality Management and the provider of total sales management solutions for hotels, Nexus.
With a client portfolio of over 100 international hotel groups and more than 20,000 of serviced hotels, the company offers branding support, distribution technology, e-commerce, sales force management, marketing, training as well as mystery shopping.
About Battery Ventures:
Since 1983, Battery has been investing in category-defining ideas and high potential companies and management teams worldwide. The firm views its investment as a true partnership, and works hard to help its companies carve out unique positions, dominate markets and reach business goals. Battery funds companies in technology and related markets at the Seed, Early, Growth and Buyout stage. For a full list of Battery's companies go to: http://www.battery.com/our-companies/list/.
The firm has offices in Boston, Silicon Valley and Israel, and has raised more than $4.5B since inception. For more information, visit http://www.battery.com and follow @BatteryVentures.
For further information please contact:
Veronika Bahnmann
Worldhotels
vbahnmann@worldhotels.com
+49-69-66056259
or
Alice Zoellner
Trust International
azoellner@trustinternational.com
+49-69-6640891501
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