See it and Sell it First at ASI Show Orlando – January 4-6, 2025.   Register Now.

News

HALO, Promo’s Biggest Distributor, Acquires Top 40 Firm BrandVia Alliance

The acquisition continues HALO’s run of high-profile acquisitions of major competitors in the promo products industry.

Count it as another major acquisition for HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000).

The largest distributor by revenue in the North American promotional products industry announced today that it has acquired BrandVia Alliance (asi/145037), a Silicon Valley-headquartered firm that ranks 34th on Counselor’s most recent list of the 40 biggest distributors in promo. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Marc Simon & Jim Childers

Marc Simon, HALO. Jim Childers, BrandVia Alliance

“BrandVia plays a key role in building the brands of an elite list of major technology clients, including Salesforce, Adobe, LinkedIn, PayPal, and Nvidia,” said HALO CEO Marc Simon. “They have built a strong reputation based on a keen focus on innovative promotional solutions, client-centric service offerings, and a skilled sales and support team. Jim Childers, BrandVia CEO, and his team will infuse insight and expertise as HALO continues our expansion in the robust tech sector. We are thrilled to have them join HALO.”

Childers noted: “HALO’s resources and capabilities will have an immediate and positive impact on our ability to create a more powerful brand experience for our clients. HALO’s expertise in global sourcing and distribution aligns well with the growing global footprint of our key clients. The breadth of HALO client services will allow us to provide clients with a deeper brand connection with key stakeholders domestically and around the world.”

BrandVia will maintain its San Jose staff and presence.

HALO’s acquisition of BrandVia comes nearly three years after another proposed purchase of the California distributorship fell through. Woodinville, WA-based Top 40 distributor BDA (asi/137616) and BrandVia ultimately couldn’t come to final terms to close the acquisition after that deal was preliminarily announced.

In recent years, HALO has executed one of the most aggressive and high-profile acquisition strategies in promo. The company’s purchases include other former Top 40 firms like Caliendo Savio Enterprises, Sunrise Identity and Axis Promotions.

Additional notable acquisitions include New York-based distributor Captiv8 Promotions in September 2021 and Michigan-based Chamberlain Marketing Group in 2018. HALO has also made moves outside the immediate promo industry – for instance, acquiring Michael C. Fina, a global rewards, recognition and incentives provider that has since been rebranded as HALO Recognition.

HALO is backed by private equity firm TPG Growth. Based on reported North American promo product revenue of $765.7 million, HALO ranked first on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry. BrandVia’s reported 2020 revenue was $43 million.