Advantage Solutions Inc.

Business description

Advantage Solutions provides outsourced sales, marketing, merchandising, sampling, and retailer support services to consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers and retailers in North America. Services cover distribution, retail execution, shopper engagement, and private brand development across physical retail and digital commerce channels. Revenue is generated through commissions, fee-for-service arrangements, and cost-plus structures, depending on the engagement.

Scale and reach

• Serves more than 4,000 clients across grocery, mass, club, retail pharmacy, convenience, and other channels.
• Services delivered at over 100,000 retail locations.
• Operates roughly 60 offices, with primary operations in the United States and international locations.

Organization and segments

Three reportable segments:

• Branded Services: sales, merchandising, and omni-channel marketing support for branded CPG manufacturers; compensation via commissions, fee-for-service, or cost-plus.
• Experiential Services: in-store and digital sampling, demonstrations, and experiential events; revenues generally on a fee-for-service or cost-plus basis.
• Retailer Services: in-store merchandising execution, private brands, and retail-media/marketing initiatives; revenues via commissions, fee-for-service, or cost-plus.

The company has divested certain non-core businesses as part of portfolio simplification and enterprise systems modernization.

Customers and concentration

• The top five clients generated approximately 22% of revenues for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
• No single client accounted for more than 10% of revenues during that period.

Workforce

• Approximately 73,000 teammates (employees and contractors) as of December 31, 2025: about 16,000 full-time and about 57,000 part-time.
• Approximately 57,000 teammates are located in the United States.
• U.S. teammates were not represented by a union as of December 31, 2025.

Geography and assets

• Corporate headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri.
• About 60 offices in the U.S. and internationally; lease terms run from 2026 to 2036.

Financial and accounting highlights

• Goodwill of about $0.4 billion and intangible assets of about $1.0 billion as of December 31, 2025.
• Impairment charges recognized:
  • 2025: goodwill impairment of $36.6 million (Branded Services and Merchandising units).
  • 2024: goodwill impairment of $233.2 million (related to the pending sale of a substantial Branded Services business unit) and intangible asset impairment of $42.0 million (Branded Services).
• Total indebtedness of about $1.7 billion as of December 31, 2025, with $62.0 million in letters of credit outstanding under the revolving facility.
• Ongoing transactions in 2026 aim to extend maturities and refinance existing notes and loans (Transaction Support Agreement and Exchange Offer activities).

Ownership and governance

• Controlled by Topco and certain investors (the Advantage Sponsors and the CP Sponsor), who collectively own about 69.9% of outstanding common stock; Topco holds approximately 54.9%.
• The company qualifies as a controlled company under Nasdaq rules and has charter and bylaw provisions that affect governance and potential changes in control.