• Hoping for buys over EUR 100m
• IPO option once ARR close to EUR 300m
• Not yet mandated IPO advisers

Mews Systems, a Dutch-Czech hospitality management software company, plans up to four more acquisitions this year, CEO and co-founder Matthijs Welle told Mergermarket.

The investment into an acquisition could be in the range of tens of millions of euros or more than EUR 100m, Welle said, adding that this would depend on the specific opportunity and what it could bring.

Mews is scouting for targets in North America and across Europe, mainly to accelerate growing its presence in existing markets but also to bring strategic products in-house, Welle said. This could include targets with event management systems, he said.

Having established strong brand awareness across Europe, Mews sees a huge opportunity to replicate this in North America where it is seeing strong interest in its products, Welle said.

Mews is in talks with more than four targets, he said, without further specifying.

The company is hoping for sizeable deals and would rather make one large acquisition than four smaller ones, he said.

Key factors when considering targets are whether the teams in each company would be a good match and that the pricing for products and services set by a target is not too far below that of Mews, he said.

Mews is a B2B hotel management software developer with a system designed to simplify and automate all operations for hotels and their guests. This includes booking, front desk, check-out and payments. Its technology is used by more than 5000 hotels in 85 countries.

The company’s revenues grew by more than 60% year on year, with annualised net revenues of more than USD 100m (EUR 91.8m), according to a company announcement.

Mews announced on 4 March that it had raised USD 110m (EUR 101m) in funding led by existing investor Kinnevik, alongside Revaia, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Notion Capital and new investor LGVP, taking its valuation to more than USD 1.2bn.

Part of this latest funding could be used for M&A, Welle said. Acquisitions would largely be funded using debt, he said, noting that as the company has grown it has developed good relationships with banks.

The company could also turn to existing investors and new potential investors that have already been warmed up in the case of a strategically larger opportunity, he added.

Mews announced in January 2024 that it had acquired Frontdesk Anywhere, a San Francisco-based cloud hotel management software provider.

Mews made three acquisitions last year and has now made eight acquisitions in total, Welle noted.

It has an internal M&A team of around ten people who also oversee the integration of new acquisitions, Welle said. As Mews has grown and acquired more targets, it has seen more and more inbound approaches either directly from targets or from advisers, he said.

The company wants to be a key consolidator, Welle said, adding that the sector remains very fragmented with between five and ten companies operating in each country.

IPO realistic option down the line

Mergermarket reported in December 2022 that Mews expected to raise a Series D round in 2025 to further accelerate M&A before an IPO, citing Welle. At that time Welle said that an IPO was a realistic option in around three to four years once markets rebound, Welle said.

The company does not expect to raise a Series D earlier than 2026 as it does not need to raise funds in the next two to three years, Welle said now. The company expects to achieve profitability in the next few years, he said.

An IPO remains a realistic option given the size that the company will achieve in the next two years, and once it achieves annual recurring revenues (ARR) closer to EUR 300m and has a clear path to profitability, Welle said.

An IPO is definitely one of the options that the company is looking at, but not in the coming two to three years, he said.

A listing in the US is the most likely option, although it is too early to specify further details regarding a potential listing, Welle said.

The company is engaging with bankers to understand the potential IPO market to be prepared, if or when the time comes – and while it could in future mandate bankers, it has not mandated any, Welle said, adding that it is too early.

It is professionalising the business and hiring the right teams but does not have to make a decision on an IPO right now, he said.

In addition to continued interest from VCs, the company attracts regular takeover interest from strategic investors and private equity firms, Welle said. However it is not engaging regarding these approaches as it is not working on an exit and the preferred option in the future is an IPO, he said.

The latest financing was an extension to its USD 185m Series C round announced in December 2022, Welle said.

The latest funds will be used for research and development, including hiring more developers to serve global brands‘ requirements, such as integrating central reservation systems and loyalty programmes; hiring more customer support staff and streamlining the platform as well as for M&A, he said.

Mews wants to capitalise on growing opportunities across the hospitality sector as hotels increasingly look for cloud-based services, Welle said.

Nashville, Tennessee-based hospitality start-up Nomi is a good example of a strategic acquisition to expand its product offering, Welle said. In this case, it was to bring expertise in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), Welle said.

Mews will launch an artificial intelligence (AI) solution in several months‘ time, he said.

In addition to M&A, Mews is also interested in developing partnerships, he said.

Mews was founded in 2012 by Czech Richard Valtr. Welle, who is Dutch, joined Valtr at the company in 2013. Both worked in the hotel industry in Prague. The two founders retain an undisclosed significant stake, Welle said.

Originally founded in the Czech Republic, the company is now officially headquartered in the Netherlands. Around one-third of its team is based in the Czech Republic with the rest spread across more than 20 countries including larger hubs in London, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris, Welle said.

The company has 960 employees and plans to reach around 1,250 employees by year-end, he said.