Distributor Stran & Company, Inc. (PPAI 161542, D10), based in Quincy, Massachusetts, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire distributor GAP Promotions, LLC (PPAI 369784, D1) in an asset purchase transaction. The acquisition, first reported Wednesday in a PPB Newslink Breaking News alert, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Headquartered in Gloucester, Massachusetts, GAP Promo designs, sources and develops custom brand solutions for numerous beverage and consumer packaged goods companies. GAP Promo achieved sales of $7.4 million in 2020 and has been profitable since inception in 2006. In a statement announcing the acquisition, Stran highlighted that GAP Promo’s expertise in point of sale, display, racks and more bolsters its business in the beverage and consumer packaged goods sectors. In turn, Stran’s product sourcing and development, technology, logistics and fulfillment expertise provides GAP Promo’s customers with a broader array of new services and capabilities.

Gayle Piraino, founder and president of GAP Promo, will continue with the company to lead the new GAP Promo business. Stran will also retain all of GAP Promo’s current employees.

“We have long admired the work of GAP Promo, as their design and execution of branded merchandise programs and innovative custom displays is top quality,” says Andy Shape, president and CEO of Stran. “Gayle and her team have built a tremendous business through their singular focus on providing customers with brand-relevant experiences. Additionally, their client portfolio consists of top-tier beverage and consumer packaged goods companies, which we believe will be highly complementary to our existing business. We are excited to build upon their success and believe that through our combined offerings we can provide an even more compelling and comprehensive service offering for our customers. Importantly, we expect this transaction to be highly accretive, given GAP Promo’s track record of profitability and the anticipated economies of scale.”

Piraino says, “We are thrilled to join the Stran family. We believe that Stran’s focus on providing comprehensive solutions for their customers will help our team to become even more valuable to our current customers. Our two teams are well aligned to continue the growth of our beverage and consumer packaged goods business.”

In November, Stran announced that it was going public. At the close of its initial public offering of 4,987,951 on Nov. 12, the company reported gross proceeds of approximately $20.7 million. The company’s common stock and warrants are trading on Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “STRN” and “STRNW”, respectively.