Achievers Valuation Good News for Rewards & Recognition Industry

The report that Blackhawk Network paid $110 million in cash for Achievers was good news for private equity companies moving into the rewards, recognition, and broader engagement space, as well as owners of such companies. If you hadn’t already heard, Gift card giant Blackhawk Network will acquire Achievers Corp., a leading provider of employee recognition and rewards solutions designed to help companies increase employee engagement. The acquisition will broaden the reach of Blackhawk’s already extensive incentive and engagement business. Earlier this year Blackhawk launched a new incentives division, Blackhawk Engagement Solutions, which is a leading global provider of customized incentive and engagement solutions for consumer promotions, direct and indirect sales channel incentive programs and employee rewards. The willingness of Blackhawk to pay this valuation in cash to add to its engagement service offerings signals a belief that this is a business with significant growth potential, and that there are profits to be made, not only in rewards business, but even more so in helping organizations achieve key performance goals through engagement. Through this acquisition, Blackhawk is signaling its intention to become a full-service engagement provider. Read more about this transaction and its ramifications in our upcoming interview with Blackhawk President Talbott Roche.