Acosta Group completes acquisition of Crossmark, Product Connections

Acosta Group has completed its strategic acquisition of Crossmark, including its retail solutions businesses, and Product Connections, a specialized marketing services business, from WIS International. '

This latest milestone in Acosta Group's ongoing transformation reinforces its position as the premier growth engine for brands across all channels, the company said. 

The agreement to acquire these agencies was announced in May.

"We are thrilled to welcome Crossmark and Product Connections to our industry-leading collective," said Acosta Group president and CEO Brian Wynne, who continues in his leadership role for the organization. "This acquisition strengthens our talent and expands our solutions, further enhancing our ability to drive profitable growth for brands and retailers by connecting them with consumers wherever they shop."

With this acquisition, Acosta Group advances its market position, growing to a team of more than 60,000 associates and 3,000 clients. Joining Acosta, ActionLink, CORE Foodservice, Mosaic and Premium Retail Services as the company's pillar agencies, Crossmark and Product Connections will remain as separate agency brands within Acosta Group.

[Read more: Q&A: How Crossmark is making a mark]

"On behalf of everyone at Acosta Group, we look forward to quickly engaging with the associates, clients, and customers of Crossmark and Product Connections to plan our future together," Wynne said. "We are excited to share further details on how we plan to harness the talents and capabilities of our new agency members to generate value for clients and customers and create growth opportunities for associates."

The acquisition unites trusted agency brands and organizations, offering differentiated and innovative sales services, retail solutions, and marketing offerings to better meet the needs of diverse brands and retailers in a dynamic marketplace. The enhanced value of a combined Acosta Group, Crossmark and Product Connections includes:

• Amplified reach and solutions across channels, categories and geographies. With the addition of Crossmark, Acosta Group extends expertise and coverage in grocery, club, value, convenience, HBC (Health and Beauty Care) and Canada, and becomes the industry leader servicing the drug channel. Product Connections brings strong demonstration and sampling services, complementing Acosta Group's brand advocacy solutions. The transaction also substantially expands Acosta Group's business intelligence and analytics capabilities.
• Elevated client service, catering to brands ranging from emerging to iconic. Separate, highly specialized agencies will focus on creating tailored plans specific to the unique needs and brand journey of each client. Additionally, the move broadens access to innovative cross-agency tools, technology, data, insights, digital commerce capabilities and strategic partnerships. The company also is committed to further strengthening support for emerging and mid-sized brands through additional investments in its Ignite division.
• Access to one of the largest retail execution teams globally. Adding Crossmark and Product Connections creates an execution team with vast scale and retail coverage. Across Acosta Group, clients will gain greater service, flexibility, speed and reporting transparency, translating to game-changing, tech-enabled value for clients, the company noted.

Further cultivating a diverse and talented workforce. Acosta Group said it is committed to expanding career growth and cross-agency mobility. Associates will have greater access to learning and development and a culture that celebrates achievements through robust recognition and rewards programs.

[Read more: Acosta Group to acquire Crossmark, Product Connections]

"Acosta Group is proud of our ongoing transformation, highlighted by the strategic investments we are making to become the industry's foremost end-to-end sales and marketing agency collective," Wynne said. "We are a financially strong, profitably growing business committed to delivering the most complete set of capabilities to our clients and customers."