Boone Acquires Tidewater
BALTIMORE—Direct mail veteran Ken Boone has put the finishing touches on his December acquisition of direct mail components supplier Tidewater Publishing Corp. The new company, called Tidewater Direct, boasts the ability to provide soup-to-nuts solutions for direct mailers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"This is a marriage of capabilities in the component parts business," notes Boone, who closed the deal for Tidewater a few days before Christmas.
Boone plans to invest $2.6 million in equipment upgrades for Tidewater Direct.
Tidewater is a 115-person operation with facilities in Centerville, MD, and West Branch, IA. In many cases, Tidewater and Boone's other company, American Direct Imaging (ADI), shared customers yet provided them with different services. Customers went to ADI for direct mail personalization and processing, and turned to Tidewater for several components of their direct mail packages.
"Now those customers can get all of the components from one source," says Larry McCormick, Tidewater's vice president of sales. "The sales efforts will yield results for both companies."
Boone started Direct Marketing Associates Inc. in 1978 and grew the company to about 500 employees. After Harte-Hanks purchased Direct Marketing Associates, Boone stayed on as president for one year.
- People:
- Ken Boone
- Larry McCormick
- Places:
- Baltimore
- Centerville