Myron (asi/278980), a Top 40 promotional products distributor, has made its first acquisition under the leadership of longtime industry executive Jeff Lederer and business partner Christian Feuer.

The executives announced today that Myron and its Europe-based brand Adler have acquired Schneider GmbH, a company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany that provides promotional products and B2C furnishing and decoration for the home and office. Financial terms were not released.

Lederer said the acquisition is a key move in advancing the strategic vision of Myron/Adler.

“The acquisition of Schneider is an exciting step in our strategy to leverage Myron/Adler as a platform for acquisitions to bolster the vertical integration of the business and pursue an expanded B2C distribution strategy,” said Lederer, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people. “We are making significant investments in technology to deliver unrivaled levels of service, which will drive growth and make the company an attractive place to work for growth-minded salespeople.”

The Schneider brand will continue to operate as an independent company under the umbrella of Adler Holding in Germany as Schneider Business Services GmbH.

GIG Myron Holdings LLC Group, an investment firm, owns Myron/Adler. GIG, which is spearheaded by Lederer and Feuer, acquired Myron in the spring of 2023.

“The acquisition of Schneider is an exciting step in our strategy to leverage Myron/Adler as a platform for acquisitions to bolster the vertical integration of the business and pursue an expanded B2C distribution strategy.” Jeff Lederer, Myron/Adler.

Myron/Adler describes itself as a vertically integrated distributor that operates out of facilities in Germany, the United States, Canada, Honduras, and China. The company says that it markets directly to end-users, distributors and suppliers through decoration facilities in North America and Europe.

Schneider GmbH designs furnishing concepts for the professional and private world. It’s also focused on accessories, gifts and promotional items – “everything that can be printed on” - for hotels, restaurants, and “companies of all sizes and industries,” executives said.

“This acquisition opens up exciting opportunities for innovation and growth,” said Florian Sieg, general manager of Schneider.

In this Promo Insiders podcast from May 2023, Jeff Lederer discusses some of his plans for turning Myron from a storied but struggling (at the time) distributorship into an industry powerhouse again.

Lederer has about three decades of experience in the promotional products business. He is the past owner and CEO of Prime Line – a former Top 40 supplier acquired by Top 40 company alphabroder (asi/34063) in 2017.

Lederer remained as president for three years after the acquisition, leaving the company in December 2020 to pursue other opportunities.

In early 2023, Lederer ramped up his activity in the industry again when he acquired a co-majority stake in European supplier Premium Square Group (PSG). He also joined the firm’s board. He had been working in an advisory capacity with PSG for the past few years but decided that a more formal partnership “would help expand the business in a way that would create significant value to shareholders and customers.”

The move to acquire Myron represented Lederer’s big leap back into the North American promo market.

Based on reported 2022 North American promotional product revenue of $74.3 million, Myron ranked 29th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry. Myron (“Mike”) and Elaine Adler founded the Myron distributorship in 1949. It was in the Adler family up until the 2023 acquisition.

Mergers and acquisitions in the promotional products industry decreased in the second half of 2023. Activity in January 2024 was more muted than in Januarys from recent years past. However, dealmaking has picked up considerably of late, and M&A experts in the industry believe the momentum will continue to build as the year progresses.