Fourth Hospitality buys ABS for £8m

Fourth Hospitality, the London-based supplier of back office software systems to the pub trade, has acquired outsource services company Alternative Business Solutions (ABS) in a deal worth £8m.

Oxford-based ABS offers electronic trading solutions to the hospitality supply chain, while Fourth Hospitality's 'software as a service' systems allow customers to cut costs and improve service across payrolls and cost of sales departments.

"A lot of companies in the pub sector are adopting web-based solutions for their back office functions," said Fourth Hospitality managing director Ben Hood. "They want to change to electronic invoicing to reap the synergy and efficiency benefits.

"This deal means we can offer and extend this service to customers," he added.

The ABS acquisition effectively doubles the size of Fourth Hospitality, according to Hood, who said the enlarged group would be looking to float on AIM by around June next year.

"We may delay [a float] depending on the market, but we're confident things will have picked up by the end of this year," he added.