Private equity continues to make inroads in the promotional products industry.

Boston-based New Heritage Capital, a private equity firm that concentrates on growth-oriented, founder-owned companies, has made a majority investment in Brilliant (asi/146116), a California-based distributor founded by Millie Tadewaldt in 2015. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Millie Tadewaldt, Brilliant (asi/146116)

Brilliant, which is majority female and now a member of the Peernet distributor partnering group, has made a name for itself in the promo industry with its high-end corporate gifting and branding solutions. The firm also boasts a proprietary technology platform that serves customers around the world.

“I’m incredibly proud of what the Brilliant team has built over the past nine years, and I’m excited to lean into making it easier for even more companies to benefit from the ROI of gifting at scale,” said CEO Tadewaldt.

Heritage has significant experience in scaling businesses similar to Brilliant – a fact, said Tadewaldt, that will help accelerate the distributorship’s growth.

“We’ll continue to deliver the best corporate gifting and branded merch platform to our clients as we help them bring their brands to life, drive personal connections on a global scale and make the gifting experience delightful for both sender and recipient,” she said.

The investment was structured with New Heritage Capital’s “Private IPO” solution, which allows Brilliant’s executive team to continue managing the company while offering financial flexibility in expectation of ongoing growth. Notably, all full time employees of Brilliant held equity interests in the company prior to the transaction.

“We’re big believers in the Brilliant team and are incredibly impressed by what they’ve built,” said Judson Samuels, partner at New Heritage Capital. “They’ve developed a fully integrated corporate gifting solution that stands out in the field of pure play tech companies and legacy promotional marketing firms. This differentiation has allowed them to drive customer satisfaction.”

The investment is the latest in a rising tide of private equity investment in promo industry firms. Of late, Counselor Top 40 supplier Garyline (asi/55990) partnered with Mill Point Capital LLC as the company finalized its relocation from New York to Florida.

Meanwhile, private equity-backed Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear (asi/84358) acquired Top 40 supplier alphabroder (asi/34063) in August. S&S and alphabroder are multi-billion-dollar firms that rank second and third, respectively, on the Counselor Top 40 supplier list.

On the distributor side, WestBridge Capital in Canada, parent company of Counselor Top 40 firm Overture Promotions (asi/288473), recently backed the distributorship’s first acquisition of a European distributor. And, PE-backed Counselor Top 40 distributor iPROMOTEu (asi/232119) announced this week that it has acquired fellow Top 40 distributor AIA Corporation (asi/109480) – another blockbuster deal.

Still, there’s an ongoing debate about private equity’s presence in the industry. Some say it promotes innovation, efficiency and technological advancement. Others lament its role in changing the landscape of the traditional industry by potentially pushing out small- and medium-sized, independently owned operations – long the backbone of the industry – and possibly altering the traditional supplier-distributor relationship.