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Accenture for consumer goods sales and marketing.

A blend of a global marketing agency (like WPP) and a vast sales and merchandising force for consumer brands and retailers.

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• Sales & Account Management: Services that manage relationships between consumer goods companies and retailers, including headquarter relationship management and administrative support.
• Merchandising Services: In-store product placement and display management, tailored for either specific brands or the overall retail environment.
• Data Analytics & Insights: Providing data-driven intelligence and insights to optimize sales and marketing strategies for brands.
• Shopper & Consumer Marketing: Designing and executing marketing campaigns and experiential events that engage shoppers and consumers for specific brands.
• Digital Commerce & Marketing: Services focused on driving online sales, digital advertising, and overall digital marketing strategies for brands and retailers.
• In-Store Media & Advertising: Creating and managing advertising placements and media within physical retail stores to influence purchasing decisions.
• Private Label Development: Assisting retailers in developing and marketing their own exclusive brand products.

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Major Customers of Advantage Solutions (ADV)

Advantage Solutions (ADV) primarily sells its outsourced solutions to other companies.

Based on the provided company description, its major customers are broadly categorized as:

• Consumer Goods Companies
• Retailers

The provided background information does not list specific names of individual customer companies.

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Dave Peacock, Chief Executive Officer

Dave Peacock was named Advantage Solutions CEO in January 2023. He brings over 30 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods and retail industry. His career includes four years as president and chief operating officer of Schnuck Markets, Inc., and two decades at Anheuser-Busch, where he served three years as the company's president. Prior to joining Advantage, Peacock was chief operating officer and on the board of directors of Continental Grain Company, a global investor, owner, and operator of companies across the food and agribusiness spectrum. He also founded and served as chairman of Vitaligent, LLC, a multi-unit restaurant franchise. Peacock is a member of the board of directors of Stifel Financial Corp. and Wayne-Sanderson Farms. He led the reorganization of Advantage Solutions to a unified enterprise with three business units to improve efficiency and focus on growth.

Chris Growe, Chief Financial Officer

Chris Growe leads Advantage Solutions' finance organization, including investor relations, accounting, payroll, treasury, and tax. He has more than 25 years of finance and investment experience. Most recently, he was a managing director at Stifel, an investment banking firm, where he covered food and tobacco stocks. Before Stifel, Growe was an analyst with A.G. Edwards and began his career in marketing at Anheuser-Busch. He joined Advantage Solutions in 2023.

Michael Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, Retailer and Experiential Services

Michael Taylor leads Advantage Solutions' global retailer services and non-Costco experiential businesses, overseeing an extensive portfolio of end-to-end retail solutions. He previously served as president of Daymon and held various leadership positions earlier in his career with PepsiCo Inc.

Bob Hardester, Chief Information Officer

Bob Hardester leads Advantage Solutions' enterprise information technology organization, overseeing global IT systems and advancing digital capabilities. He has over 30 years of experience in digital transformation, enterprise technology, and AI-driven innovation. Most recently, he served as Chief Information Officer and Chief Supply Chain Officer at Schnuck Markets, where he played a key role in positioning the company as an industry innovation leader. He was appointed CIO effective March 2, 2026.

Bryce Robinson, General Counsel

Bryce Robinson is responsible for the oversight of Advantage Solutions' legal department, providing counsel on a wide array of business matters, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, international joint ventures, private equity transactions, compliance, corporate governance, and commercial contracts. Prior to joining Advantage, he was senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary at InSight Health, a healthcare services company.

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1. Substantial Indebtedness and High Leverage: Advantage Solutions faces significant financial risk due to its substantial indebtedness, with net debt reported at approximately $1.577 billion as of March 31, 2025, and a net leverage ratio of 4.4x as of Q3 2025. This high leverage results in considerable interest expenses, impacting cash flow, and poses refinancing risks, especially given the current interest rate environment. The company's Altman Z-Score of 0.01 suggests a potential risk of bankruptcy within two years.
2. Macroeconomic Headwinds and Client Spending Pullbacks: The company is exposed to market volatility and cyclicality, particularly due to macroeconomic headwinds such as a soft consumer environment and reduced spending by Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) clients. This has notably impacted the Branded Services segment, which experienced declining revenues. Client procurement strategies, industry consolidation, and evolving relationships with CPG manufacturers and retailers can also exert pressure on service pricing and demand.
3. Increased Labor Costs and Talent Retention: As a service-oriented company with a large workforce, Advantage Solutions is significantly exposed to market-driven wage increases and changes in labor laws or regulations, including minimum wage. The ability to recruit, train, and retain a skilled workforce is crucial, and elevated labor costs contribute to margin compression, impacting profitability.

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The rapid advancement and accessibility of AI-driven platforms and tools are emerging as a clear threat. These platforms enable consumer goods companies and retailers to automate, optimize, and execute digital marketing campaigns, media buying, data analytics, and even aspects of e-commerce management directly and with increasing efficiency. This technological shift could empower Advantage Solutions' clients to bring capabilities in-house or manage them with fewer external resources, potentially disintermediating Advantage Solutions' outsourced services in areas such as digital marketing, digital media and advertising, and analytics, insights, and intelligence.

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Advantage Solutions (ADV) operates within the significant outsourced sales and marketing services markets, both globally and specifically in North America.

For the **global sales and marketing business process outsourcing market**, the addressable market was estimated at USD 28.65 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 57.46 billion by 2030, demonstrating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4% from 2023 to 2030. Another estimate valued this global market at US$33.3 billion in 2024, with a projection to reach US$51.4 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.5% from 2024 to 2030. Additionally, the global market for Sales and Marketing Business Process Outsourcing is expected to reach $49.2 billion by 2028, with a growth rate of 9.5% CAGR. This market was also valued at US$ 40,820.3 million in 2025, with an estimated CAGR of 10.1% from 2025 to 2033.

Focusing on **North America**, the sales and marketing business process outsourcing market is a dominant region. The U.S. market within North America was projected to achieve a market value of $12,975.2 million by 2028. In 2022, North America held the largest share of the global sales and marketing BPO market, accounting for 48.35%. Furthermore, the U.S. market was valued at $9.1 Billion in 2024.

Regarding the **global outsourced sales services market**, it was valued at approximately USD 2.71 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to reach around USD 4.21 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of roughly 4.50% between 2025 and 2034. Another report estimated the outsourced sales service market size at USD 3093.27 million in 2024, expecting it to reach USD 4494.83 million by 2033 with a CAGR of 4.2% from 2025 to 2033. Specifically for B2B outsourced sales services, the global market was $105.39 billion in 2024 and is expected to double by 2033.

**North America** leads the global outsourced sales services market. In 2023, North America accounted for over 41% of global outsourcing contracts, with more than 68,000 U.S. companies outsourcing at least one sales function. The region accounts for 42% of global outsourced sales spending, and the U.S. market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 8.5% from 2021 to 2026.

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Advantage Solutions Inc. (ADV) anticipates several key drivers for its future revenue growth over the next two to three years, primarily stemming from strategic operational enhancements and strong performance in specific service segments.

The expected drivers of future revenue growth include:

1. Growth in Experiential Services: The company's Experiential Services segment has demonstrated robust performance, with strong growth in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. This segment experienced significant momentum in the latter half of 2025, driven by successful hiring initiatives, strong execution, and robust demand, which is expected to continue into 2026.
2. Technology Transformation and Enhanced Labor Productivity: Advantage Solutions is actively implementing technology transformation initiatives and focusing on improving labor productivity. These strategic measures are aimed at enhancing operational efficiencies, which are critical for achieving consistent performance and delivering long-term shareholder value.
3. Strengthening Client Partnerships: A core focus for Advantage Solutions is to strengthen its client partnerships. By fostering stronger relationships with consumer goods companies and retailers, the company aims to ensure consistent performance and drive long-term value.
4. Strategic Portfolio Optimization: Advantage Solutions has undertaken a strategy of divesting non-core businesses. While this may streamline existing revenue baselines, it allows the company to concentrate resources on its most strategic and profitable service offerings, thereby setting the stage for more focused and potentially higher-growth revenue streams in the future.

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Share Repurchases

• Advantage Solutions authorized a $100 million share repurchase program on November 9, 2021.
• The company repurchased $34.1 million of its Class A common stock during the year ended December 31, 2024.
• As of December 31, 2024, $47.1 million remained available under the repurchase program, and an additional $1 million in share buybacks occurred in Q1 2025.

Share Issuance

• Advantage Solutions became a public company on January 1, 2020, through a merger with Conyers Park II Acquisition Corp., which resulted in the issuance of 203,750,000 shares of Class A common stock to Karman Topco L.P.
• A reverse stock split is planned for 2026 to enhance institutional accessibility of the company's shares.
• As of March 2, 2026, the company had 327,507,690 shares of common stock outstanding.

Outbound Investments

• Advantage Solutions has pursued a strategy of portfolio simplification through the divestiture of non-core businesses.
• Divestitures of three non-core businesses in 2025 generated approximately $55 million in proceeds.
• In June 2024, the company sold its digital advertising platform Jun Group for $185 million, with a final $27.5 million cash payment received in early 2026. Additionally, in January 2026, a partial stake in Advantage Smollan was divested for $27 million.

Capital Expenditures

• Capital expenditures for the full year 2025 totaled $53 million, with a primary focus on IT-related spending for its transformation plan.
• Q4 2025 capital expenditures were approximately $24 million, continuing the trend of heavy IT-related investment.
• For 2026, capital expenditures are projected to remain elevated at $50 million to $60 million as the company enters the final stage of its IT transformation, with expectations for a meaningful reduction in future years.