B2B merchant Baudville, which specializes in employee recognition products, has acquired a majority stake in hi5 Recognition – a web-based platform for service awards and performance incentives.
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Cori Curtis, marketing communications specialist with Baudville, said in an email that the company will now offer comprehensive employee recognition programs for its customers, including day-to-day recognition to annual service awards. The additional services will lead to greater market share, growth, and opportunities for Baudville.
Curtis said teams from both Baudville and hi5 Recognition have already started working to integrate operations and services through the end of the year, with an official program launch scheduled for January 2013. The acquisition of hi5 Recognition enables Baudville to offer a comprehensive recognition program that combines the efficiency of an online platform with the effectiveness of tangible recognition tools, Curtis said.
Baudville’s recognition program will run day-to-day, informal, and formal recognition all from one platform, Curtis said, adding that hi5 Recognition will continue to run as a separate entity and benefit from Baudville’s 30-year history, experience, and resources.
Curtis said hi5 Recognition’s operations will move to Baudville’s headquarters in Grand rapids, MI. “As the company grows, we plan to add personnel to these teams. We are also planning to create new roles in sales and marketing in 2013. Hi5 will take over warehouse space at our headquarters that was previously unused.”
The merger with hi5 will also help Baudville diversify its sales channels and reach new markets, Curtis said. “We will become even more of a multichannel merchant and hope to establish better relationships with Baudville customers at the corporate level and become the premier resource for all employee recognition needs.”
Curtis said the acquisition of hi5 impacts all facets of Baudville’s business including IT, accounting, marketing, sales, and distribution. “We are creating new systems and processes to service additional clients and learning new competencies along the way.”
Jim Tierney (jim.tierney@penton.com) is a senior writer for Multichannel Merchant. You can connect with him on Twitter (TierneyMCM) and LinkedIn, or call him at 203-899-8449.
