Agilysys, which bought spa software provider ResortSuite in 2021 has announced the acquisition of Book4Time, the first cloud-based management software for the spa industry for US$150 million (€135 million, £115 million) cash.

The transaction is subject to the customary closing adjustments.

Book4Time was founded in 2004.

Roger Sholanki, founder and CEO of Book4Time, said: "Over the past 20 years, we've worked with some of the world’s leading hospitality brands in 100 countries to develop our SaaS platform for spa and wellness operations.

"The tech innovation strengths of Agilysys and the broad range of state-of-the-art solutions in its portfolio – including modules for membership and golf – will exponentially elevate the value we can deliver to clients," he said.

Agilysys president and CEO, Ramesh Srinivasan, responded, saying: “We look forward to accelerating hospitality technology innovation together as we combine our product strengths, fully tap our mutual passion for serving customers and make our value proposition to the hospitality industry even more compelling."

There are strong synergies between the businesses, with Srinivasan saying: "While we share some industry-leading customers, such as Marriott International and Hilton, there is minimal overlap of properties in our respective customer bases, presenting opportunities to introduce additional software solutions to a wider range of existing customers."

Additional deals

The entrepreneurs behind the original spa software companies have built significant value in their businesses.

ResortSuite, founded by Frank Pitsikalis in 2000, was sold to Agilysys in 2021 for US$25 million (€22 million, £19 million).

Spa Booker – launched in 2007 by co-founders Pete Ellis and patent-holder, Daniel Lizio-Katzen, and led by CEO Josh McCarter from 2010, changed its name to Booker Software in 2012 and was bought by Mindbody for US$150 milllion (€135 million, £115 million) in 2018.

Classpass was bought by Mindbody – which had been founded in 2000 by Rick Stollmeyer and floated in 2015 – in an all-stock transaction in 2021.

The combined Classpass/Mindbody business was then sold to Vista Equity Partners for US$1.9 billion (€1.7 billion, £1.5 billion) in 2019, with the deal being subject to a lawsuit during which the court found it had a value US$48 million (€43 million, £37 million) greater than that achieved.

Premier Software has also changed hands, being bought by Journey Hospitality in March 2023 for an undisclosed sum.