Soulsight CEO George ArgyrosBruin Sports Capital

Bruin Sports Capital has added to its marketing depth with the acquisition of Soulsight, a Chicago-based agency with a lengthy roster of consumer-packaged-goods clients.

The addition of Soulsight’s branding and package design expertise complements the marketing services already in Bruin’s portfolio from its acquisition of Engine Shop three years ago.

Soulsight is a company of 55 employees, split up by graphic arts and strategy. While the agency doesn’t have a great deal of experience in sports, Bruin sees an opportunity for Soulsight to work with sports properties through the doors it can open for the agency. Many of Soulsight’s clients, in fact, have substantial spends in sports.

“We think there’s a way to transform even more of their brand-centric and design-inspired thinking into the sports and entertainment marketplace,” Bruin’s David Abrutyn said.

Financial terms of the deal were not released, but Soulsight has a track record of working with some of the most established CPG brands, including Coca-Cola, MillerCoors and Hershey.

Among the agency’s recent work is a brand redesign for Blue Moon that sparked sales growth and a campaign around the release of a new Reese’s product that combines Pieces with peanut butter cups.

George Argyros, Soulsight’s CEO and one of three partners, joined the agency in 2007 at the director level. In 2015, Argyros teamed with Jim Pietruszynski and Adam Ferguson to execute a managerial buyout, which prompted the partners to imagine a new direction for the agency. Bruin bought the agency from the three partners.

Soulsight will operate as an independent business under the Bruin umbrella, which now includes six acquisitions and joint ventures. Engine Shop has been on a buying spree of its own, acquiring four businesses in the last year to add to its range of capabilities.