PnS is pleased to announce our acquisition of wholesale specialist, Effective Sales & Merchandising.
PnS has a forty-five-year track record of being a best-in-class retail execution partner, representing some of the most admired and valued brands across the globe and in South Africa. Effective Sales & Merchandising (ESM) is a business of over thirty years’ experience in providing sales and merchandising solutions, focusing specifically on the second and third tiers of the FMCG market.
Before coming together, founding partners, Frank Ghillino and Paul De Freitas, had built their respective businesses by growing solid long-standing relationships with both customers and clients, and the business remains characterised by high levels of interaction with trade partners and clients at a local and national level. They 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, and is established as an industry leader.
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 & 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.”
The acquisition allows the respective companies to explore numerous opportunities by leveraging off their respective strengths. 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.”
Our combined presence in the wholesale sector will provide greater value to existing clients, as well as new clients. The deal will also enable the leverage of skills, expertise and capabilities between PnS and ESM, building synergy, opportunity and growth for all stakeholders.
