The Supply Side: Atlas Technology acquired by Advantage Sales & Marketing

Bentonville-based Atlas Technology group, a startup less than six years old and a supplier of data services to Wal-Mart suppliers, has been acquired by retail service provider Advantage Sales & Marketing for an undisclosed figure.

“The acquisition of Atlas represents the exciting launch of our Digital Technology division,” said Tanya Domier, ASM CEO. “Having been a customer of Atlas for the last several years, we came to understand and appreciate the value that Atlas brings to the market and saw tremendous potential to include them as a part of the Advantage ecosystem.” 

Irvine, Calif.-based Advantage was founded in 1987 and now employs more than 38,000 worldwide and has annual sales of $65 billion.

Nick Dozier, CEO of Atlas Technology Group, will lead the new business unit which will continue operating under its current name and become the first organization to enter Advantage’s Digital Technology division.

Dozier said Atlas will remain based in Bentonville. 

“As we looked to increase our product offerings and reach other markets we knew we needed a partner. Advantage was the one we kept coming back to that felt like a natural fit for our organization,” Dozier said. 

“ASM’s strong reputation in the market, client relationships, and commitment to technology as a growth area will permit Atlas to enhance the unique value proposition we bring to CPGs and retailers alike. I couldn’t be more excited for my team, our customers, and our partners. This is just the beginning of the next evolution of Atlas.” he added. 

Atlas has been one of the faster growing startups in the the retail supplier services sector. Atlas had 32 employees in 2014 and recently told The City Wire it planned to add 25 more this year.

Third party technology and data analytics firms are among the faster growing segments in the local supplier ecosystem, which is expected to add between 4% to 5% more jobs this year.

“This type of third party supplier growth is happening across the area and I expect it to continue throughout the next few years as real-time data collection for consumer marketing becomes more mainstream,” said Cameron Smith, CEO of Cameron Smith & Associates,

Smith said he was not surprised by the acquisition of Atlas Technology. 

“These data signal repositories try to make it on their own without hitching their wagon to a larger parent, but fall down on global scale. It is very expensive to compete in that space. Just to attend trade shows can cost up to $100,000 for a booth,” Smith said.

Smith said he could see Advantage beefing up their call center support staff and back end tech development personnel to manage scale and integration into other Advantage tools. 

“As for Atlas, it could mean a few more jobs as they are a pretty small shop,” Smith said
 
Smith also said there could be more tech-related acquisitions with retail service companies.

“I think integrating data companies is smart to help them justify their costs.”
 
Last year Rogers-based Shiloh Technology was acquired by Atlanta-based Software Paradigms International Group. Like Atlas, Shiloh was a local startup.

“Nick and the Atlas team have become the clear leaders in their space and have developed the most progressive solutions around retail insights in our industry,” said David Cortese, ASM president of Digital Technology. “We’re thrilled to have them as a cornerstone to our Digital Technology organization. Atlas’ ability to provide brands with actionable insights on their products is a huge need for our clients and will complement Advantage’s market offering to our portfolio of over 1,000 brands.”