Branded, a consumer products platform and brand acquirer, has acquired digital brand creator and acquirer Heyday to form a new company Essor, meaning flight in French. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though in merging together, the overall portfolio, which includes brands like Boka and ZitSticka, has reached $400 million in annual revenue.
“The market has dried up in terms of funding for the past two or three years. Brand owners are looking at opportunities,” he said. “All of this makes the M&A opportunity tangible and attractive.” “The market opportunity is just too large.…We’re talking to many more entrepreneurs that want to sell today than a year ago,” he said noting that by joining forces the team will be able to better attack this need.
“When you look at most of the acquisitions we’ve done across both groups, we usually acquire businesses that have reached at least $10 million in revenue. They have built a community around them,” said Ben Kaminski, chairman and previous cofounder and chairman of Branded. “The reason there’s a lot of focus around health and wellness…is because we believe there’s usually a community behind them already.