Koozie Group, the seventh-largest supplier by revenue in the North American promotional products industry, has acquired Saint Paul, MN-based supplier HotLine Products (asi/61960). Financial terms of the deal were not released.

David Klatt, Koozie Group

Koozie Group (asi/40480), formerly BIC Graphic, noted that HotLine Products is known in the promo market for its selection of calendars, which include appointment, desk, executive and commercial styles. Among its offerings, the company counts planners/journals, custom capabilities, and products featuring the graphics of Norman Rockwell, The Saturday Evening Post and wildlife artist David Maass.

David Klatt, CEO of Koozie Group and a member of Counselor's Power 50 ranking of promo’s most influential people, said that HotLine’s focus on safe and responsible printing processes and using recycled materials and paper from sustainable sources was an attractive draw. Those efforts align with the Top 40 firm’s growing emphasis on operating greener and social responsibility. Koozie is among the large industry suppliers that has been upping its sustainability initiatives of late.

“Koozie Group and HotLine are two of the top names in promotional calendars who also have similar standards around quality and sustainability,” said Klatt. “That alignment, along with our Sleepy Eye, MN-based team’s expertise in calendar printing and production, made this acquisition a great opportunity for us to take another step toward our future vision.”

Koozie Group said it will maintain HotLine’s product assortment as it exists today for the 2022 calendar season. HotLine items will be available under the Koozie Group portfolio, produced out of the Koozie Group facility in Sleepy Eye, MN, and serviced by sales and service teams who have a long record of winning the ASI Distributor Choice Awards in the calendar category, the company said in a press release.

Koozie Group offers nearly 400 stock items in its current calendar assortment. All Koozie Group calendars are produced domestically at the company’s Sleepy Eye, MN, facility, which operates according to ISO 14001 environmental standards, producing more than three calendars every second. The supplier’s Triumph and Good Value calendar lines include licenses from well-known names like The Saturday Evening Post, Tim Cox and the Hautman Brothers, as well as eco-friendly options from brands like GoinGreen.

Koozie Group is a portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, a private equity firm that has $43 billion of equity capital under management. With reported 2019 North American promo product revenue of $310.1 million, Koozie Group ranked seventh on ASI Media’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.

Koozie Group was known as BIC Graphic until it officially changed its name at the start of 2021. The company also recently announced that, thanks to that name change, it can sell internationally again.

Koozie Group has been aggressive on the acquisition front of late, having acquired then Top 40 supplier IMAGEN Brands in December 2020.