GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 13, 2022 – Blackford Capital (“Blackford”) today announced the sale of its portfolio company Hall Technologies, (“Hall”) to investment partner Gun Lake Investments, (“GLI”) a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based economic development corporation. Blackford is a private equity firm that acquires and builds founder and family-owned companies in the lower middle market with a focus on manufacturing, industrial and distribution companies.
Hall Technologies, previously known as Hall Research, is based in Dallas, Texas and is a leader in the Pro AV industry in the design and manufacturing of high-end, customized audio/visual systems for corporate conferencing and collaboration spaces. Hall’s end-to-end solutions serve a broad array of end markets including healthcare, corporate IT, education, gaming, hospitality, and houses of worship.
Blackford acquired Hall with GLI and other investors in July 2018 to increase its leadership in the growing U.S. and international AV market, expand its engineering capabilities and promote its established brand reputation for providing top-quality, highly reliable professional AV products.
Jason Schwartz, CEO of Hall, said, “Blackford and GLI have been excellent partners who shared our vision for rebranding the company. With Blackford’s support we appointed industry veterans Ken Eagle as VP of Technology, Matt Kingsley as CFO, Hal Truax as VP of Sales and added executives in domestic and global sales, marketing, as well as increased R&D and operations capabilities. Blackford and GLI backed our move from California to a much more central location close to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport that has allowed us to bring together our engineers, assembly operations and executive offices and provides a great new space for our customer HIVE Experience Center.”
“Hall is well-positioned to execute on its multi-year growth strategy having recently launched several new products,” said Stephen K. Parker, Hall board chairman and Blackford operating partner. “We were honored to be partnered with the team at GLI during this time and are confident they will continue to be excellent stewards for Jason and his team at Hall as they pursue their next stage of growth. Gun Lake Investments has the access to capital, customer relationships and unique structure that will be an ongoing excellent fit for Hall’s product line and goals, and we wish Hall great success under their new ownership.”
In 2021, Hall launched HIVE Control, the world’s first cloud-based driverless control system. HIVE delivers a flexible, scalable and easy-to-use collaborative experience for both in-person and remote participants. In addition, Hall’s new EMCEE200 is a presentation switcher with picture-in-picture (PIP) and picture-over-picture (POP) capabilities for corporate meeting rooms, hybrid learning spaces and houses of worship. Both HIVE and EMCEE200 integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and other video platforms.
About Hall Technologies
Founded in 1984, Hall Technologies is a leader in the Pro AV industry with a longstanding reputation for providing top-quality, highly reliable end-to-end solutions. From its research and manufacturing headquarters located in Dallas, Texas, Hall Technologies provides the next generation of AV technology across many applications and has been trusted in thousands of installations worldwide. Learn more online at www.halltechav.com.
About Blackford Capital
Founded in 2010, Blackford Capital is a private equity investment firm headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Blackford acquires, manages, and builds founder and family-owned, lower middle-market companies, with a focus on the manufacturing, industrial and distribution industries. With a reputation for a relentless approach to value creation and a focus on operational excellence, Blackford was named the Private Equity Firm of the Year by M&A Advisor in 2021 and 2018. The firm has also received Deal of the Year honors from M&A Advisor in multiple categories, and its portfolio companies have also been included on the Inc. 5000. For more information, visit www.blackfordcapital.com.