Lilleys sell Fourth Hospitality in £50m deal
FOURTH Hospitality, an IT company which offers software and cloud computing packages to restaurant chains, has changed hands in a secondary buyout which values the business at around £50m.
The company, started by Wilmslow-based founders Est Est Est and Restaurant Bar & Grill founders Derek and Edwina Lilley, has been sold to a management buy-out team led by its London-based chief executive Ben Hood and backed by the Manchester office of private equity firm ECI Partners.
Fourth Hospitality’s software is used by many hospitality industry chains including Carluccio’s, Pizza Express, Eat, Giraffe, Krispy Kreme Donuts and Subway. It allows bosses at each chain to keep an eye on management, reservation levels, stock and other issues.
The company has grown revenues from just £1m in 2005 to £9.9m in the year to August 31 last year – on which it made a £1.8m profit. Given that many of the firms using its system rely on the service for key business information, it also has high levels of recurring revenues.
The Lilleys owned a majority share of the company, but a group of other private investors including technology entrepreneur Chris Sheffield will also share in the proceeds of the sale.
KPMG and the Manchester office of Clearwater Corporate Finance advised the vendors on the sale.
