AAHOA IS JOINING Blackstone Growth LP and affiliated 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 efficiently, 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.”
M3 was founded by McKibbon 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 a thousand 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.
In June, AAHOA chose Bookit N Go, a travel tech startup, as its booking partner to drive bookings for member hotels through its online platform.
