Direct Group, a full-service provider of high-volume direct marketing services, has acquired HintonHill, a leading full-service DM management and consulting company.
The move brings to Direct Group the knowledge of well-known industry executives Don Hill and Barry Hinton, the service expertise and data services resources of HintonHill, a diverse national client base and a broad network of specialized industry partners.
“HintonHill clients will benefit by having access to the production capacity, resources and buying power of one of the world’s largest-volume, single-site commercial mailing facilities,” Direct Group CEO Don McKenzie said. “Direct Group clients will benefit from access to the deep partner relationships HintonHill has developed, as well as new options to enhance their direct marketing programs.”
Terms were not disclosed. Mr. McKenzie gave several reasons for the acquisition.
“We think very highly of Don [Hill] and Barry [Hinton] and their sales and production expertise,” he said. “The second reason is that we are a high-volume direct marketing shop, and sometimes there are smaller projects that we’d like to do for companies but they don’t fit well with our manufacturing environment. Their outsourcing and project management skills will allow our company to handle these projects. Their skill sets are complementary and not competitive to ours.”
Finally, Mr. McKenzie said, HintonHill specializes in mortgage, nonprofit and travel and leisure clients as opposed to Direct Group’s clients in the credit card, insurance and telecom space.
Direct Group, Pennington, NJ, offers prepress, print and personalization, lettershop, commingling and postal optimization, database management, telemarketing, response and fulfillment. It employs 1,100 people in three facilities, and the company processes nearly 1.5 billion pieces of mail yearly.
HintonHill, Frederick, MD, partners with a network of industry vendors and suppliers to deliver cost-effective, customized direct marketing solutions to clients. The network gives the company flexibility, letting it do large or small jobs in various vertical markets. Mr. Hill and Mr. Hinton, who have more than 55 combined years of direct mail experience, will become executive vice presidents at Direct Group.
“This pairing makes an incredible amount of sense for both of our client bases and companies,” Mr. Hill said. “We are going to have the ability to tap into the incredible additional resources that they bring to the table. Combining their talent, expertise and resources with our own, including our extensive network of industry vendors, will enable us to offer an integrated direct marketing solution.”
