Advantage Solutions

Advantage Solutions Inc. is an American outsourced sales and marketing company known for its work with consumer goods manufacturers and retailers.^[1][2] It was founded in California in 1987 and is currently headquartered in Missouri.^[3]In October 2020, it went public via a merger with SPAC Conyers Park II Acquisition Corp.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Advantage Solutions was founded in 1987 by Sonny King in Irvine, California, under the name Advantage Sales & Marketing, and initially focused on marketing and outsourced sales for consumer packaged goods manufacturers.^[9] Over the following decades, the company expanded through a mix of organic growth and strategic acquisitions, including more than 50 M&A transactions since 2014.^[10][11][12]

In 2014, private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners acquired Advantage Sales & Marketing, the parent company of Advantage Solutions, from Apax Partners.^[13][14]

On November 14, 2017, Advantage Solutions agreed to acquire Daymon Worldwide, a Stamford-based private-label brand development and retail services firm, from Bain Capital and Yonghui Superstores.^[15]The combined company ended up with operations in 45 countries.^[16][17]

In October 2020, Advantage Solutions became a publicly traded company through a merger with the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Conyers Park II Acquisition Corp,.^[8][18][19]It started trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker “ADV” starting October 29, 2020.^[20]

As of 2023, Advantage Solutions was listed on the Fortune 1000 and reported having over 70,000 employees worldwide.^[21][22][23]

In February 2023, Dave Peacock was appointed the new CEO, replacing Jill Griffin.^[24][25][26]

In early 2024, Advantage Solutions relocated its corporate headquarters from Irvine, California, to Clayton, Missouri.^[1][27][28]

In June 2024, Advantage Solutions announced the sale of digital advertising platform Jun Group to Sweden-based Verve Group SE for $185 million.^[29] The transaction completed in July 2024.^[29]

Advantage Solutions merged two of its subsidiaries, Amp Agency and Advantage United Commerce, to form AMP (Advantage Marketing Partners) in 2025.^[30]In the same year, Advantage Solutions partnered with Instacart to provide real-time shelf data for consumer packaged goods companies.^[2]