Battery Ventures Acquires 100% of IHS GmbH’s Shares

IHS GmbH, a provider of technology and marketing solutions to the global hotel industry, has confirmed 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.

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 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).

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.

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,” said 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.”

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.