RESDIARY, the software company which allows diners to book restaurant tables online, is aiming to increase its presence internationally after being acquired by AccorHotels.
The international hospitality group, which operates brands including Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis among its 4,300 hotels, said the deal would allow it to improve its guest offering while supporting ResDiary’s global expansion plans.
ResDiary is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) system which allows diners to reserve tables online. It combines this with table and yield management functions to help restaurant operators maximise their profits.
Accor has acquired 100% of the business, but founder and chief executive Mike Conyers has revealed his plans to stay with the company and spearhead its expansion.
Mr Conyers owned 15.9% of the shares in the company ahead of the sale. And while the value of the deal was undisclosed, a number of ResDiary staff who held 1,000 shares in the business, combining to make up 0.2%, will share a windfall.
“We have worked with Accor in Asia for five years and we really like doing business with them,” Mr Conyers told The Herald, adding that Accor respected the company’s business model, which is based on a flat fee with no transaction charges.
“They made an offer which was very difficult to refuse and we saw them as a company which would respect our business ethos and help grow and nurture the business from our base in Scotland,” he said.
Mr Conyers launched the business after a successful career as a Glasgow restaurateur with Lautrec’s Wine Bar, D’Arcy’s, 78 St Vincent, Leonardo & Company and Metropolitan among his portfolio.
He launched the business with chairman Colin Whitelaw with a vision of building “the world’s best web-based booking system for restaurants”.
READ MORE: ResDiary in pledge to up staff after city office switch
The system was first trialled in Glasgow’s Citrus – which is now home to Viva. Since selling its first two accounts by demonstrating the system at the end of the bar in Citrus, ResDiary now has more than 100 staff across six countries, with a footprint in more than 60 countries. The company, which has been profitable in each of the last six years, has links with 8,600 restaurants, having becoming well-established both in the UK and in the Asia Pacific region.
It seats more than 160 million customers annually with clients including TGI Fridays, Loungers, Sapporo Teppanyaki and at least 35 Michelin star restaurants.
Three new staff started yesterday and Mr Conyers said a further ten developers would be required in Glasgow
Mr Conyers would not disclose current turnover at the group, however it broke through £5m in 2016, having first edged into seven-figure territory in 2013. He did confirm that compound growth over the past four years was more than 50%.
Sébastien Bazin, chief executive at AccorHotels, said: “Our ambition is to support ResDiary in its global expansion, consolidating its scale, and benefitting from its expertise to provide multiple attractive offers to our guests.
“This acquisition completes recent investments of AccorHotels in the food and beverage industry. It fully supports the group’s ambition to increase touchpoints with a fast-growing customer base.”
ResDiary was advised on the deal by global investment bank GCA Altium, which called it “a real UK SaaS success story”.
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