HALO Branded Solutions
HALO Branded Solutions is one of the world's largest distributors of promotional products and branded merchandise, also operating HALO Recognition, which designs and administers employee incentive and rewards programs for enterprise customers. Headquartered in Sterling, Illinois, the company partners with tens of thousands of clients across North America. HALO is backed by private-equity firm Audax Private Equity, and Halo Buyer, Inc. is the associated acquisition/borrower entity.
Company profile compiled from public sources (company filings, rating-agency reports, and press releases) — distinct from the SEC Schedule-of-Investments pricing data below.
Lenders
SEC filing entity: Halo Buyer, Inc.
HALO Branded Solutions is held by 6 BDC lenders in our parsed SEC filings: CCAP, MFIC, MRCC, NCDL, PFLT, PNNT.
Cross-lender loan pricing
Each row is one debt tranche at the BDC’s most recent filing that holds this borrower, widest spread first. Mark is the position’s fair value as a percent of par (100 = par). Spread is shown in basis points over the benchmark in the Rate column, normalized from each filing’s as-reported units — rows quoting different benchmarks are still not directly comparable. Compare like-for-like: a second-lien tranche, a different vintage, or an older filing should price wider even when the credit view is identical — check the Type and Filing columns before reading a gap as disagreement. Source: SEC EDGAR (public). Rows marked stale are from an earlier filing than the lender’s latest — the borrower is absent from its newest filing (exited, repaid, or reported under a different name).
| BDC | Type | Rate | Spread (bps) | Mark (% of par) | Fair Value | Maturity | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCAP | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 100.3 | $3M | 2029-02-28 | 2026-05-13 |
| CCAP | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 99.4 | $160K | 2029-02-28 | 2026-05-13 |
| MFIC | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 89.3 | $359K | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-06 |
| MFIC | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 96.7 | $8M | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-06 |
| PFLT | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 99.5 | $10M | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-07 |
| PFLT | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 99.5 | $835K | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-07 |
| PNNT | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 99.5 | $828K | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-07 |
| PNNT | 1L Sr Secured | SOFR | 600 | 99.5 | $9M | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-07 |
| PFLT | 1L Sr Secured | — | — | -$9K | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-07 | |
| PNNT | 1L Sr Secured | — | — | -$9K | 2029-08-07 | 2026-05-07 | |
| MRCC | Debt | SOFR | 460 | 95.4 | $4M | 2025-06-30 | 2025-02-28 stale |
| NCDL | Debt | SOFR | 450 | 95.4 | $5M | 2025-06-30 | 2025-02-27 stale |
Marks reflect each BDC’s own fair-value estimates as reported to the SEC, not traded prices. Private-credit loans are predominantly Level 3 under ASC 820 — valued from unobservable inputs and determined in good faith by each BDC’s board, so figures are estimates as of the filing date and are not directly comparable across managers. Informational only; not investment advice or a valuation.
Ownership & deal activity
Ownership and acquisition events compiled from public sources and audited against the linked source. Each event links to its source; “(reported)” marks a lower-confidence item. Verify anything material against the original source.
- acquisitionTPG Growth completes acquisition of HALO Branded Solutions / Halo Buyer, Inc.TPG Growth and HALO management completed the acquisition of HALO Branded Solutions from Audax Private Equity on June 29, 2018, after receiving FTC early termination on June 4, 2018; financial terms were not disclosed.
- sponsor changeTPG Growth acquires HALO Branded Solutions from Audax Private Equity — announced May 2018TPG Growth announced the acquisition of HALO Branded Solutions from Audax Private Equity and management on May 17, 2018, with financing provided by Antares Capital, SunTrust Bank, Citizens Financial Group, and KKR Financial.
- lboAudax Private Equity acquires HALO Branded Solutions (2016)Audax Private Equity acquired HALO Branded Solutions in 2016, partnering with management to grow the business organically and through add-on acquisitions including employee recognition.
- sponsor changeH.I.G. Capital sells HALO Branded Solutions to Compass Diversified Trust for $62.5MH.I.G. Capital sold HALO Branded Solutions to Compass Diversified Trust (Westport, CT) for $62.5 million after tripling revenues during its four-year ownership.
- bankruptcyHALO Branded Solutions files Chapter 11 bankruptcyAfter overextending with ~30 acquisitions including a $240M purchase of Starbelly.com, HALO filed Chapter 11 as losses mounted and debt became unmanageable.
- lboH.I.G. Capital acquires HALO Branded Solutions via 363 bankruptcy saleH.I.G. Capital acquired HALO Branded Solutions for $22 million through a Section 363 bankruptcy sale process, with Marc Simon retained as CEO.
- sponsor changeCompass Diversified Trust sells HALO Branded Solutions to Penny Pritzker-controlled acquisition vehicle (reported)Compass Diversified Trust sold HALO Branded Solutions to an acquisition vehicle controlled by Chicago businessperson Penny Pritzker; precise date and deal size not publicly disclosed.
Headlines mentioning HALO Branded Solutions
Reading this table
When two business development companies lend to the same borrower, comparing how each marks the loan is a starting question, not a verdict. In plain English: a wider spread (e.g. S+575 vs S+525) or a lower mark (e.g. 96 vs 100 cents on the dollar) can mean that lender is pricing in more risk — but marks can also differ for reasons other than a credit view: a different tranche (second lien should price wider than first lien on the same company), a different vintage or entry point, an older filing date, or each manager’s own fair-value methodology. Compare like-for-like — check the Type and Filing columns before reading a gap as disagreement. Each row is one debt position at one BDC’s most recent filing. Source: SEC EDGAR Schedule of Investments (public).
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