Fourth

Headquartered: London, United Kingdom

Investment date: 2011

Exit date: 2015

Data

https://www.fourth.com/

At a Glance

350

Employees at exit

120,000

Locations worldwide

3.5x

Return on Exit

As at October 2021

How we helped

Fourth provides SaaS solutions to the hospitality industry, connecting its international customers with their business data to give them visibility and insight.

Strategic acquisitions

During our investment Fourth expanded internationally, acquiring Adaco, a US based SaaS business focussed on the international hotel sector, in 2012, and Team Hours, a transformational labour productivity business in 2014.

People & culture:

We supported the business with the appointment of Neville Davis as Non-Executive Chair, in addition to a new CFO and International Sales Director.

During our investment Fourth’s profit and revenue grew in excess of 26% per annum (EBITDA CAGR was 26% and revenue CAGR 27%) and employee numbers doubled to 350+ across London, the US and Bulgaria. In 2015 we realised our investment to Insight Venture Partners, delivering a multiple of 3.5x and a 35% IRR.

In 2019 Fourth joined forces with HotSchedules to become a global leader in end-to-end restaurant and hospitality management technology and solutions, serving customers in 120,000 locations worldwide.

ECI are genuinely good people - very trustworthy. They don’t want to take over your world or run your business, they want to support you so you can improve it and make it better. They’re true to their word and consistent, and like us all, just want to win.

Ben Hood

CEO, Fourth

What is it like working with ECI? The Fourth story.

ECI took a sort of genuine interest in us. Fourth is a business that works hard on building culture and it’s very much a value-driven culture. And we felt that ECI shared those same views and beliefs around how important culture is.

Genuinely good people, you know, very trustworthy and they do not want to take over your world or run your business. They want to support you so that you can improve it and make it better. True to their word, consistent and like us all just want to win.