LOS ANGELES, July 10, 2019 – Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired HotSchedules and Fourth, two leading providers of workforce, inventory and operations management solutions to the global restaurant and hospitality industry. Marlin has merged the two companies to create the industry’s most comprehensive back-of-house software-as-a-service (SaaS) suite delivering a fully integrated inventory management, workforce management, payroll and intelligent cost-control operations platform. The combined company’s software solutions now serve customers in over 120,000 locations worldwide, with employees spread globally across offices in the U.S., APAC and U.K. Insight Partners (“Insight”) has partnered with Marlin in the transaction and will hold a minority stake in the combined company.
“We are excited to bring together two highly complementary industry leaders to create a global, end-to-end human capital management and operations platform focused on the hospitality sector,” said Doug Bayerd, a principal at Marlin. “Our investment underscores our commitment to the hospitality management solutions market and the value that these institutions provide for their customers.”
HotSchedules and Fourth both provide flagship solutions in workforce and operations management, with each company delivering highly complementary capabilities within the restaurant back-of-house technology stack. HotSchedules is widely recognized for providing the industry’s leading tools for labor management, time & attendance and employee engagement and communication. Fourth has established a strong reputation by offering best-in-class HR, payroll, inventory management, procurement, and advanced forecasting and analytics solutions. Together, HotSchedules and Fourth will continue to serve one of the largest global customer bases in the industry through a fully integrated software suite.
“The merger of Fourth and HotSchedules presents a huge opportunity for growth and innovation,” said Ben Hood, co-founder and CEO of Fourth. “We are excited to join forces with an organization whose mission, values, history, culture and overall commitment to customer success closely match our own. After overseeing Fourth’s journey to-date, it is a dream partnership.”
HotSchedules and Fourth will unite under the leadership of Ben Hood, CEO of Fourth and will continue to support solutions across their respective platforms. The combined organization will be based out of HotSchedules’ corporate headquarters in Austin, TX, and will maintain major offices in London, U.K. and Atlanta, GA. The company also has global centers of excellence across multiple international locations including Australia, Bulgaria, China, Vietnam, South Africa and Ukraine.
Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. Piper Jaffray and William Blair & Company, LLC acted as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to Marlin Equity Partners. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to HotSchedules. Jefferies LLC served as financial advisor to Fourth and Willkie Farr & Gallagher provided legal counsel to Insight Partners.
About Marlin Equity Partners
Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with over $6.7 billion of capital under management. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthen a company’s outlook and enhance value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 150 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.
About Hot Schedules
HotSchedules provides state-of-the-art technology, services and user experiences for the restaurant, retail and hospitality verticals. Over 30,000 customers across 170,000+ locations globally – from large international chains to independent and emerging concepts – rely on HotSchedules’ software and solutions to help them control costs, maintain compliance, improve visibility, increase profitability and drive operational consistency. For more information, please visit www.hotschedules.com.
About Fourth
Fourth provides complete, end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management solutions that empower operators to optimize profits, enhance guest satisfaction, improve employee engagement and scale profitably. Developed by hospitality professionals for hospitality professionals, Fourth offers an intuitive, all-in-one hospitality operations technology platform for purchase-to-pay and inventory and workforce management – underpinned by advanced demand forecasting, predictive analytics and collaboration tools, as well as full-service payroll, benefits and HRO services. Founded in 1999, Fourth serves more than 1,200 customers in 60 countries. For more information, please visit www.fourth.com.
About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight currently has over $20 billion of assets under management and has cumulatively invested in more than 300 companies worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. Across our people and our portfolio, we encourage a culture around a core belief: growth equals opportunity. For more information on Insight and all its investments, please , visit www.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.
For additional information, please contact Peter Spasov at (310) 364-0100 or via e-mail at pspasov@marlinequity.com.