Sandler Announces New Strategic Partner to Support Company Vision and Accelerated Growth in the Sales Learning Space

OWINGS MILLS, MD – June 8, 2022 — Sandler, the leading global sales professional development and performance improvement organization in the learning space, today announced a new strategic partner set to propel Sandler to the next level of growth.

David Williams, Partner with Blue Marlin, CEO of MRE Capital, and Chairman of Quality Brands International, has joined as Sandler’s strategic partner. Mr. Williams was formerly the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle, Inc.

The infusion of capital and expertise will support Sandler’s vision for accelerated growth and meet the future demands of the next evolution of sales. The company recently announced a corporate rebrand to reflect the evolving expectations of the modern buyer and seller, serve clients with cutting-edge learning technologies and methodologies, and provide adaptive content and curriculum served across multiple delivery modalities, including in-person instructor-led, virtual instructor-led, and online on-demand through Sandler’s unparalleled Learning Management System (LMS).  

Earlier this year Sandler also announced its strategic partnership with HubSpot, the leading global CRM platform for scaling companies. The two companies joined forces to help sales teams embrace the new world of sales, melding in-person sales skills with marketing and sales automation technology.

“Sandler has built a phenomenal brand over the last 50 years,” said David Williams, Partner at Blue Marlin. “I’m energized by the opportunity to partner with Sandler and help grow the business, maintain a dominant brand in the learning space, elevate the performance of sales professionals and leaders, and build platforms for employees and franchisees to be successful. The way Sandler thinks about sales training and development is top of market.”

Sandler has been seeking the next level of investment to support its mission to dominate the sales learning space, while Blue Marlin seeks to partner with local businesses who aim to scale and have a proven track record.

“The acceleration of new technologies and platforms, evolving buyer journeys, and modern trends in preferred learner experiences and modalities is staggering,” said David Mattson, CEO and President of Sandler. “David Williams of Blue Marlin, who built the largest marketing platform in the world as the CEO of Merkle, is the best suited partner to help Sandler reach its next-level vision to be embedded in all technologies and platforms, and available in the flow of work so that sales professionals and leaders have on-demand access to our world-class tactics and strategies.”

The partnership is set to ensure that Sandler continues to lead the charge in enabling revenue generating professionals to reach new levels success.

Leading global investment bank, Houlihan Lokey, served as Sandler’s exclusive financial advisor on the transaction.

About Sandler

Sandler is the leading global sales professional development and performance improvement organization responsible for empowering over 50,000 sales professionals and leaders each year to master the craft of selling. Across over 230 office locations spanning 30 countries, Sandler’s technology-enabled solutions propel the next evolution of sales with customizable learner journeys, collaborative coaching, ongoing reinforcement, and an evolved sales methodology connecting the modern seller to today’s buyer journeys. Visit https://www.sandler.com.