www.asianhospitality.com
September 2024 | Issue 229
News
06
AHOA is joining Blackstone
Growth LP and afÏliated funds
in the association’s first strategic
investment, signing a definitive
agreement to acquire a majority stake in
M3 LLC, a hospitality accounting software
firm. The association claims the deal will
significantly benefit its members and the
entire hospitality industry.
However, the terms of the deal were
not disclosed.
“AAHOA is excited to make its
first strategic investment alongside
Blackstone, a move that will
significantly benefit our members
and the entire hospitality industry,”
said Miraj Patel, AAHOA’s chairman.
“This partnership with M3 will bring
AAHOA members access to advanced
technology and innovative solutions
that can enhance operational efficiency
and drive growth. We are committed
to empowering our members with
the tools and resources needed to
succeed in an evolving market, and
this collaboration marks a pivotal step
toward achieving that goal.”
The investment will accelerate the
company’s growth by enhancing product
expansion and supporting the adoption
of M3’s software, which helps hotel
operators run more efÏciently, the
companies said in a joint statement.
“Blackstone’s background in hospitality
made them the natural choice as our first
equity partner,” said John McKibbon, M3’s
founder. “Together, we look forward to
propelling our innovation and growth
to best serve our customers in an era of
continued technological advancement.”
McKibbon founded M3 in 1998 to
address the accounting needs of his
family's hotel management company,
the statement said. It serves as the
system-of-record for financial data for
more than 1,000 hotel operators and
management companies. Currently, it
provides accounting, labor management
and business intelligence products to
more than 8,000 properties across North
America.
“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,” said Ramzi Ramsey, a
managing director at Blackstone. “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.”
Blackstone Growth, a private equity
growth fund managed by Blackstone, was
founded in 2020.
Carlton Fields P.A. served as legal
counsel to M3, while Houlihan Lokey
provided certain assistance to M3 in
connection with the transaction, the
statement said. Evercore acted as the
exclusive financial advisor to Blackstone,
and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal
counsel to Blackstone.
Blackstone, AAHOA buy
majority stake in M3
The deal is AAHOA’s first large strategic investment and the association expects
to give members greater access to technology
In its first strategic investment, AAHOA, along with Blackstone Growth LP and afÏliated funds,
recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in hospitality accounting software
firm M3 LLC. AAHOA Chairman Miraj Patel said the investment will greatly benefit its members
and the hospitality industry.