Top 40 supplier HUB Promotional Group (asi/61966) has acquired HandStands (asi/59525), a Salt Lake City, UT-based supplier that specializes in technology accessories and more. Financial terms of the deal were not released, but the acquisition comes on the heels of a 2018 in which HUB generated revenue of more than $180 million – an approximately $80 million rise over 2017, executives told Counselor.

“The addition of HandStands to the HUB family of companies enables us to expand our product lineup, add a production facility and expand our distribution network to become the leading hard goods supplier in the promotional products industry,” said HUB CEO Joe Fleming.  

As part of the new partnership, HandStands Chairman Chris Anderson will become chief operating officer of HUB Promotional Group. Rodd Steuart, HandStands CEO, will continue to lead HandStands. Executives told Counselor that there are no other title/role changes for company leaders. The entire HandStands team is staying aboard, they said.

[From left] HUB CEO Joe Fleming; HandStands CEO Rodd Steuart; HandStands Chairman/HUB COO Chris Anderson

“In an environment in which our customers demand increasingly more in terms of speed, quality, value and choice, scale matters,” Anderson told Counselor. “HUB Promotional Group is assembling a pool of managerial talent, compelling brands, innovative products, industry expertise, and entrepreneurial creativity that is unmatched in the industry.  Simply put – and even more so with the addition of HandStands -- HUB Promotional Group is a stronger, more diverse and more nimble business partner that better enables our customers to compete and win.”      

According to Fleming, HandStands’ Salt Lake City location enhances HUB’s expanding geographic footprint. Furthermore, the HandStands product lineup complements the technology strengths and lifestyle products of the HUB Group, he said. Founded in 1983, HandStands was one of the first companies to introduce mouse pads to the promo marketplace, executives said. These days, the firm offers a spectrum of promotional products, from phone and tablet accessories, to air fresheners, stress relief items, lifestyle products and automotive accessories.

The HandStands acquisition, which closed Dec. 21, comes just a few months after HUB’s September 2018 acquisition of Origaudio (asi/75254), a fast-growing California-based supplier that specializes in innovative technology and lifestyle products. Suppliers under the HUB Promotional umbrella also include HUB Pen, Beacon Promotions (asi/39250), Best USA (asi/40344), Cooler Graphics (asi/80345), Debco (asi/48885) and BCG Creations (asi/37693).

With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $103.5 million, HUB Promotional Group ranked 15^th on Counselor’s latest list of the largest suppliers in the industry. The 2018 revenue figure of more than $180 million, which resulted from organic growth and acquisitions, would be sufficient to put HUB into the top 10 of suppliers, though that of course doesn’t account for gains or losses other suppliers may have made last year. It does, however, provide a broader barometer of HUB’s growth.