M3 signed a definitive agreement for a majority investment from Blackstone Growth and affiliated funds. The investment will help to accelerate the company’s growth by enhancing new product expansion and supporting the adoption of M3’s software, which enables hotel operators to run more efficiently and effectively. AAHOA, representing nearly 20,000 hotel owners and 60 percent of hotels across the United States, will make its first ever strategic investment alongside Blackstone.
Founded in 1998 by industry veteran John McKibbon to address the accounting needs of his own family’s hotel management company, M3 has grown into a leading hospitality-focused back-office accounting software platform that serves as the system-of-record for financial data for more than a thousand hotel operators and management companies today. It currently offers technological solutions including accounting, labor management and business intelligence to more than 8,000 properties across North America. M3 has ranked as the nation’s number-one hotel accounting software and financial reporting provider by HotelTech Report for the past four years.
"Blackstone’s background in hospitality made them the natural choice as our first equity partner," McKibbon said in a statement. "Together, we look forward to propelling our innovation and growth to best serve our customers in an era of continued technological advancement.”
“M3 has become a leading finance and accounting software platform for countless independent and family owned hotel operators, as well as some of the largest hotel management companies, that have relied on its technology to support the professionalization and scale of their businesses. As M3’s first institutional capital partner, we’re excited to harness Blackstone’s deep expertise and network within the real estate and technology sectors to help enhance its product offering to better serve new and existing companies as M3 continues to grow," said Ramzi Ramsey, a managing director at Blackstone.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Carlton Fields, P.A., served as legal counsel to M3 and Houlihan Lokey has provided certain assistance to M3 in connection with the transaction. Evercore served as exclusive financial advisor to Blackstone and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Blackstone.