Hospitality technology company Cendyn has acquired hospitality data and intelligence provider Knowland, the companies announced Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to a news release, the deal will allow Austin, Texas-based Cendyn to enhance sales prospecting with greater bookings in the meetings, incentives, conferences and events space.
The acquisition — which will result in the pairing of Knowland’s meetings and events data with Cendyn’s sales customer relationship management, proposals and Grouprev platforms — was made with Cendyn’s new private equity partner, Austin-based Haveli Investments. California-based technology investment firm Accel-KKR, which Cendyn first partnered with in 2019, also supported the deal.
Now part of Cendyn’s private equity portfolio, Haveli will allow the company to better “deliver innovation” for the hospitality industry with its focus on “high-quality technology companies.” Cendyn did not immediately respond to a Hotel Dive request for further comment.
“To effectively sell group business, hoteliers need immediate access to data, and Knowland’s event intelligence platform is undoubtedly the market leader in this area,” said Cendyn CEO Jack Blaha, adding that Arlington, Virginia-based Knowland’s sales intelligence will help hoteliers find their target audience.
Business travel volume is expected to achieve 95% of its 2019 peak this year, according to the U.S. Travel Association. And “healthy” group and business travel is already benefiting hotels, according to a joint report by Knowland and Amadeus published in August.
Though business travel costs remain high, the Global Business Travel Association expects prices to moderate through 2025.
Founded in 2004, Knowland offers market intelligence data regarding meetings and events from more than 7,500 hotels in the U.S. and a handful of international markets. The 1996-founded Cendyn now has more than 32,000 customers across 150-plus countries.
