Awards.com, T. Shipley Form $30 million B2B Brand Group

Lyndhurst, NJ–Just over two weeks after acquiring business furniture marketer Reliable Home Office Awards.com has announced that it will merge with Maitland, FL-based executive gifts and accessories cataloger T. Shipley and motivational and promotional products supplier Durham & Co. to form B2B Brand Group LLC. The new combined businesses, which will have more than $30 million in annual revenue, will supply products to business professionals at the office or in homes. Awards.com founder/CEO Warren Struhl is the chairman and T. Shipley CEO/co-owner Tom Shipley is president.

Awards.com which bought Reliable Home Office on Aug. 30 from Reliable Corp., a division of Boise Cascade, had also recently acquired Durham & Co. from Skymall, and Express Awards, an awards and promotional products cataloger.

“Each business’ core competencies, direct marketing expertise, e-commerce skills, complimentary databases and talents position us to become a much larger company in the near future,” said Warren Struhl in a statement.

With $5 million in funding from existing and new investors, B2B Brand Group aims to grow rapidly. Shareholders include TWS Partnership; Ascend Financial Group; Warren Struhl; Skymall/Gemstar-TV Guide International; Advance Publications; Robert H. Lessin; Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst; Pandion Capital, as well as existing management.