Advantage Smollan Limited, the joint holding company between Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan), announced today its acquisition of Combera Group GmbH.

Pava Partners acted as the exclusive investment banking advisor to the shareholders of Combera. This marks already the 13th successful transaction of Pava Partners in the first few weeks of 2017.

Combera is a specialist in outsourced sales, merchandising, auditing, activation and engagement with operations in 13 European countries and a partnership network that extends to many more.

Advantage Smollan provides outsourced sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in Europe, and after completion of the Combera acquisition will have operations in 15 European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Poland, Portugal and Russia.

Two years ago Advantage, which operates in North America, and Smollan, which operates on four continents outside Europe, became the world’s leading retail solutions company when they announced a global partnership that leverages each other’s footprints and best practices to provide seamless global services for deeper, broader strategic partnerships with clients. This included the formation of Advantage Smollan as a unified solution for Europe. After completion of the Combera acquisition, the global partnership spans six continents and more than 35 countries.

“Our long history and proven capabilities in outsourcing sales solutions across a diversified European cultural landscape will enlarge the global footprint of this joint journey” highlighted Sarah Auer, CEO of Combera. Combera’s client portfolio today includes some of the leading multinational brands operating in Europe. Given its history, success and footprint, Combera will continue operating under its current name.

“In order to provide our enterprise clients with holistic retail sales, technology, and reporting solutions in Europe and on a global scale, we must have the absolute best in terms of local leadership, talent and resources on the ground in Europe. So we can enhance our value proposition through our expanded footprint and capabilities while maintaining laser focus on our legacy regions” said Tanya Domier, Advantage CEO. “We have delivered on this with our acquisitions and leadership appointments to-date, from enlisting industry veteran Hans Savonije of Royal Unibrew as the Executive Chairman to our pending acquisition of Combera which has a reputation for excellence and expertise in every country it operates.”

“The addition of Combera to our portfolio dramatically changes our presence and scale and gives us the widest reach across Europe in our space” said Laurence Clube, Chief Operating Officer of Advantage Smollan. “Combera will also bring to the wider Advantage Smollan group its many best practices and extra reach through its partnership network which opens the door to future growth opportunities. The transaction represents a big step forward in our vision to provide comprehensive solutions across Europe and globally through the larger partnership between Advantage and Smollan.”

About Combera GmbH

Combera GmbH, based in Munich, has been active on the German market since 1976 and is today a specialist in sales outsourcing and POS marketing. With the business units Advertising Agency, Database Marketing, Marketing Services and Rent a Sales Force, the company can offer its customers immediate solutions for temporary and long-term staff-supported sales campaigns. Additionally, Combera provides conceptual support for the creation of complete marketing and sales concepts and implements these ideas exactly according to plan.

About Advantage Smollan

Advantage Smollan was founded in 2015 and is the joint holding company between Advantage Solutions (Advantage) and Global Smollan Holdings (Smollan) that provides unified sales, marketing, and technology solutions for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers across Europe. Advantage Smollan offers the industry’s best capabilities and technology along with the local knowledge to address the unique dynamics of individual markets. The company combines Advantage’s and Smollan’s best practices and resources with the extensive experience and market leadership of each portfolio company – all aligned in service excellence, thought leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit to deliver better results for clients and customers.