Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 24 (IANS): IBS Software Services, headquartered at Technopark here, Wednesday announced that it had acquired Atlanta-based Hotel Booking Solutions (HBSi) through a multi-million dollar deal.

With this acquisition, over hundred leading players in the hospitality industry including Starwood, Harrahs, Raffles, Ramada, Fairmont and Kerzner on the supply partner side, as well as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity on the distribution side, will join the IBS stable.

IBS' acquisition of HBSi was made by buying over the entire shareholding of Crosslink Capital, the San Francisco-based leading private equity and venture capital firm. Crosslinks Capital has over $1.8 billion in assets with investments in around 100 companies.

HBSi is a travel technology and services firm that provides distribution services to leading hotel companies and travel suppliers by linking their computer reservation systems to distribution channels for instant transmission of room availability, rates, inventory and reservation confirmations.

V.K. Mathews, executive chairman, IBS Group, said strategic acquisition of companies in the industry they operate in is a deliberate growth strategy. "We will continue to be on the lookout for more inorganic growth opportunities to gain competitive advantage and enhance industry position," Mathews said.

In its 15-year history, IBS has made six strategic acquisitions - one in India, two in Europe and three in the USA, expanding its solution portfolio to cover travel, hospitality and aircraft engineering areas.

IBS is a leading global provider of new generation IT solutions to the travel, transportation and logistics industries and operates from 10 global business centres in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa.