Acosta’s Latest Acquisition Helps Brands Bridge Physical and Digital Shelves

Integrated sales and marketing services provider Acosta has acquired OeP to further enable brands to land in physical and online shopping carts. OeP is known for providing white glove services to clients across multiple categories and increasing brand presence and ROI on the world's largest e-commerce platform, Amazon.

"Research shows 86% of shoppers are shopping both online and in-store, and Acosta is uniquely positioned to respond to their evolving needs," said Brian Wynne, CEO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Acosta. "Brands today need the expertise of agencies such as Acosta and OeP to provide best-in-class counsel, driving them to the forefront of digital marketplaces such as Amazon. We are excited to expand opportunities for retailer partners, brand partners, and shoppers and look forward to welcoming OeP's associates to Acosta."

"With the acquisition of OeP, Acosta is now a one-stop digital commerce agency, offering clients full services across all retail.com platforms, including platform management, content, data measurement and retail media," added John Carroll, chief growth officer for Acosta. "We are uniquely positioned in the industry to help clients build seamless and connected physical and digital go-to-market plans with their retailers."

OeP co-founders Jim Tonkin and Colin Jones, CEO of the company, are also excited to join Acosta. "OeP has always been guided by our clients' trust to elevate and inspire their brands to be successful, and that will not change," said Jones. "What will change is a new commitment to bringing current and future clients a broader suite of tools to help achieve their business goals."

OeP will continue to operate under its current name as a stand-alone brand.

In addition to OeP, Acosta has broadened its omnichannel reach with the acquisition of Premium Retail Services in November 2021. Other acquisitions this past year have included Impact Group to bolster services for clients in emerging, natural, and specialty brands; and CORE Group to further strengthen its foodservice offering for clients.

Palazzo served as exclusive financial advisor to OeP in this transaction.