PnS acquires Effective Sales & Merchandising
The companies said in a joint statement that the deal will enable the leverage of skills, expertise and capabilities between PnS and ESM, building synergy, opportunity and growth for all stakeholders.
PnS, with a 45-year track record of being a retail execution partner of prominent brands across the globe and in South Africa, joins forces with ESM, a business with over 30 years’ experience in providing sales and merchandising solutions, focusing specifically on the second and third tiers of the FMCG market.
Wholesale and bottom-end retail sectors
In building their business, ESM founding partners Frank Ghillino and Paul De Freitas took a focused approach in choosing to provide sales and merchandising services solely to the wholesale market, making them specialists in what is an increasingly critical channel. Today the business provides services to both the wholesale and bottom-end retail sectors.
PnS group chief executive officer Glenn Brauns says, “We’re delighted with our acquisition. Effective Sales & Merchandising is a world-class business and they’re real experts within the sectors of the market they operate. We’ve been talking to Paul and Frank for some time now and I’m really excited that we’ve finally been able to get the deal over the line.
“The wholesale and bottom end sectors of the market continue to present huge opportunities for all brand owners and an acquisition of this nature is therefore perfectly aligned to the overall growth and strategic imperatives of the group. I’m equally thrilled to have Paul and Frank on board as part of our executive team, with their extensive experience and the combined collective of PnS and ESM coming together, I believe we have a proposition in the market that cannot be matched.”
Paul de Freitas, ESM co-CEO says, “Like PnS, ESM has been built on the premise of being a client-centric sales and merchandising business with an absolute passion for building their clients' brands, which our performance and relationships have enabled. We’ve grown our capabilities from sales and merchandising to Key Accounts services, Sales Analytics and the deployment of Channel Implants”
Frank Ghillino, ESM co-CEO adds; “Our years of experience in the second and third tiers of South Africa’s FMCG industry complements PnS’s strengths. We can help clients successfully navigate what is a complex sector of the market – whether you’re a new entrant, launching a new product or wanting to increase your numerical distribution.”
The companies state that their combined presence in the wholesale sector will provide greater value to existing clients, as well as new clients.