Advantage Solutions Inc. (ADV) FY 2023 MD&A

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included in Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This section of this Form 10-K generally discusses 2023 and 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022. Discussions of 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021 are not included in this Form 10-K, and can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023.

Executive Overview

We are a leading business solutions provider to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers. We have a strong platform of competitively advantaged sales and marketing services built over multiple decades – essential, business critical services like headquarter sales, retail merchandising, in-store sampling, digital commerce and shopper marketing. For brands and retailers of all sizes, we help get the right products on the shelf (whether physical or digital) and into the hands of consumers (however they shop). We use a scaled platform to innovate as a trusted partner with our clients, solving problems to increase their efficiency and effectiveness across a broad range of channels.

For 2023 and 2022, we had two reportable segments: sales and marketing.

Through our sales segment, which generated approximately 57.9% of our total revenues in the year ended December 31, 2023, we offer headquarter sales representation services to consumer goods manufacturers, for whom we prepare and present to retailers a business case to increase distribution of manufacturers’ products and optimize how they are displayed, priced and promoted. We also make in-store merchandising visits for both manufacturer and retailer clients to ensure the products we represent are adequately stocked and properly displayed.

Through our marketing segment, which generated approximately 42.1% of our total revenues in the year ended December 31, 2023, we help brands and retailers reach consumers through two main categories within the marketing segment. The first and largest category is our retail experiential business, also known as in-store sampling or demonstrations, where we manage highly customized large-scale sampling programs (both in-store and online) for leading retailers. The second category is our collection of specialized

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agency services, in which we provide private label services to retailers and develop granular marketing programs for brands and retailers through our shopper, consumer and digital marketing agencies.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, certain organizational changes were announced that will impact our future internal reporting. As a result of these changes, we expect to have three reportable segments. We expect that any operational changes impacting our reportable segments will be effective in the first quarter of 2024.

Items Affecting Comparability of Financial Results

2024 Divestiture of Foodservice Businesses

We have included businesses classified as held for sale within continuing operations as their dispositions do not represent a strategic shift that will have a major effect on our operations and financial results.

As of December 31, 2023, certain assets and liabilities of a collection of foodservice businesses were classified as held for sale in Prepaid expenses and other current assets and Other accrued expenses on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. The collection of foodservice businesses were sold during the first quarter of 2024. As part of the sale, the foodservice businesses were combined with an entity owned by the buyer, and we received approximately $91.0 million, less estimated working capital adjustment and an ongoing 7.5% stake in the entity with which the foodservice businesses will be combined.

2023 Deconsolidation of ASL

On November 30, 2023, we reduced our equity interest in Advantage Smollan Limited (“ASL”), our European joint venture, from a majority interest of under 60% to a minority interest of 49.6% in exchange for $1.0 million in cash. We also removed certain participating rights with ASL related to capital allocation and certain of our decision making rights. Therefore, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 810 (“ASC 810”), Consolidation, ASL was deconsolidated from our consolidated financial statements. Effective December 1, 2023, our investment in ASL is accounted for under the equity method of accounting, with the investment reported in “Investments in unconsolidated affiliates” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and Equity income (loss) reported in “Income from unconsolidated investments” on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income.

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Our services experienced the effects from reductions in client spending due to the economic impact related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While mixed by services and geography, the spending reductions impacted all of our services and markets, which particularly impacted our operations in 2021. Globally, the most impacted services were our in-store sampling and demonstration services, which have continued to improve in 2023.

Summary

Our financial performance for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 includes:

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Revenues increased by $175.1 million, or 4.3%, to $4,224.8 million;

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Operating loss decreased by $1,515.6 million to $76.2 million of operating income;

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Net loss decreased by $1,317.0 million to $60.3 million;

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Adjusted Net Income decreased by $82.8 million, or 40.1%, to $123.8 million; and

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Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $11.6 million, or 2.7%, to $424.3 million.

Factors Affecting Our Business and Financial Reporting

There are a number of factors, in addition to the deconsolidation of ASL, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and, inflation, that affect the performance of our business and the comparability of our results from period to period including:

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Organic Growth. Part of our strategy is to generate organic growth by expanding our existing client relationships, continuing to win new clients, pursuing channel expansion, enhancing our service offerings, developing our international platform, delivering operational efficiencies and expanding into logical adjacencies. We believe that by pursuing these

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organic growth opportunities we will be able to continue to enhance our value proposition to our clients and thereby grow our business.

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Acquisitions and Divestitures. We have grown our business in part by acquiring businesses, both domestic and international. Many of our acquisition agreements include contingent consideration arrangements, which are described below. We have completed acquisitions at what we believe are attractive purchase prices and have regularly structured our agreements to result in the generation of long-lived tax assets, which have in turn reduced our effective purchase prices when incorporating the value of those tax assets. We continue to look for strategic acquisitions that can be completed at attractive purchase prices. We continue to evaluate opportunities to further simplify our operations so we can focus more resources on our core businesses.

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Contingent Consideration. Many of our acquisition agreements include contingent consideration arrangements, which are generally based on the achievement of financial performance thresholds by the operations attributable to the acquired businesses. The contingent consideration arrangements are based upon our valuations of the acquired businesses and are intended to share the investment risk with the sellers of such businesses if projected financial results are not achieved. The fair values of these contingent consideration arrangements are included as part of the purchase price of the acquired companies on their respective acquisition dates. For each transaction, we estimate the fair value of contingent consideration payments as part of the initial purchase price. We review and assess the estimated fair value of contingent consideration on a quarterly basis, and the updated fair value could differ materially from our initial estimates. Adjustments to the estimated fair value related to changes in all other unobservable inputs are reported in “Selling, general and administrative expenses” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income.

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Depreciation and Amortization. As a result of the acquisition of our business by Topco on July 25, 2014 (the “2014 Topco Acquisition”), we acquired significant intangible assets, the value of which is amortized, on a straight-line basis, over 15 years from the date of the 2014 Topco Acquisition, unless determined to be indefinite-lived. The amortization of such intangible assets recorded in our consolidated financial statements has a significant impact on our operating (loss) income and net loss. Our historical acquisitions have increased, and future acquisitions likely will increase, our intangible assets. We do not believe the amortization expense associated with the intangible assets created from our purchase accounting adjustments reflect a material economic cost to our business. Unlike depreciation expense which has an economic cost reflected by the fact that we must re-invest in property and equipment to maintain the asset base delivering our results of operations, we do not have any capital re-investment requirements associated with the acquired intangible assets, such as client relationships and trade names, that comprise the majority of the finite-lived intangible assets that create our amortization expense.

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Impairment of Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Assets. We recognized a non-cash intangible asset impairment charge of $43.5 million related to our indefinite-lived sales trade name during the year ended December 31, 2023. We recognized $1,275.7 million and $91.8 million impairment charges in the sales and marketing reporting units, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2022. We recognized non-cash intangible asset impairment charges of $146.0 million and $59.0 million related to our indefinite-lived sales and marketing trade names, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2022. The impairment charges have been reflected in “Impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived assets” in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income.

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Foreign Exchange Fluctuations. Our financial results are affected by fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and other currencies, primarily the Canadian dollars, British pounds and euros, due to our operations in such foreign jurisdictions. See also “—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure of Market Risk—Foreign Currency Risk.”

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Seasonality. Our quarterly results are seasonal in nature, with the fourth fiscal quarter typically generating a higher proportion of our revenues than other fiscal quarters, as a result of higher consumer spending. We generally record slightly lower revenues in the first fiscal quarter of each year, as our clients begin to roll out new programs for the year, and consumer spending generally is less in the first fiscal quarter than other quarters. The timing of our clients’ marketing expenses, associated with marketing campaigns and new product launches, can also result in fluctuations from one quarter to another.

How We Assess the Performance of Our Business

Revenues

Revenues related to our sales segment are primarily comprised of commissions, fee-for-service and cost-plus fees for providing retail services, category and space management, headquarter relationship management and technology solutions. A small portion of our arrangements include performance incentive provisions, which allow us to earn additional revenues on our performance relative to specified quantitative or qualitative goals. We recognize the incentive portion of revenues under these arrangements when the related services are transferred to the customer.

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Marketing segment revenues are primarily recognized in the form of a fee-for-service (including retainer fees, fees charged to clients based on hours incurred, project-based fees or fees for executing in-person consumer engagements or experiences, which engagements or experiences we refer to as events), commissions or on a cost-plus basis, in each case, related to services including experiential marketing, shopper and consumer marketing services, private label development or our digital, social and media services.

We analyze our financial performance, in part, by measuring revenue growth in two ways—revenue growth attributable to organic activities and revenue growth and declines attributable to acquisitions, which we refer to as organic revenues and acquired revenues, respectively.

We define organic revenues as any revenues that are not acquired revenues. Our organic revenues exclude the impacts of acquisitions and divestitures, when applicable, which improves comparability of our results from period to period.

In general, when we acquire a business, the acquisition includes a contingent consideration arrangement (e.g., an earn-out provision) and, accordingly, we separately track the financial performance of the acquired business. In such cases, we consider revenues generated by such a business during the 12 months following its acquisition to be acquired revenues. For example, if we completed an acquisition on July 1, 2022 for a business that included a contingent consideration arrangement, we would consider revenues from the acquired business from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 to be acquired revenues. We generally consider growth attributable to the financial performance of an acquired business after the 12-month anniversary of the date of acquisition to be organic.

If an acquisition of an acquired business does not include a contingent consideration arrangement, or we otherwise do not separately track the financial performance of the acquired business due to operational integration, we consider the revenues that the business generated in the 12 months prior to its acquisition to be our acquired revenues for the 12 months following its acquisition, and any differences in revenues actually generated during the 12 months after its acquisition to be organic. For example, if we completed an acquisition on July 1, 2022 for a business that did not include a contingent consideration arrangement, we would consider the amount of revenues from the acquired business from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 to be acquired revenues during the period from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, with any differences from that amount actually generated during the latter period to be organic revenues.

All revenues generated by our acquired businesses are considered to be organic revenues after the 12-month anniversary of the date of acquisition.

When we divest a business, we consider the revenues that the divested business generated in the 12 months prior to its divestiture to be subtracted from acquired revenues for the 12 months following its divestiture. For example, if we completed a divestiture on July 1, 2022 for a business, we would consider the amount of revenues from the divested business from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 to be subtracted from acquired revenues during the period from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

We measure organic revenue growth and acquired revenue growth by comparing the organic revenues or acquired revenues, respectively, period over period, net of any divestitures.

Cost of Revenues

Our cost of revenues consists of both fixed and variable expenses primarily attributable to the hiring, training, compensation and benefits provided to both full-time and part-time associates, as well as other project-related expenses. A number of costs associated with our associates are subject to external factors, including inflation, increases in market specific wages and minimum wage rates at federal, state and municipal levels and minimum pay levels for exempt roles. Additionally, when we enter into certain new client relationships, we may experience an initial increase in expenses associated with hiring, training and other items needed to launch the new relationship.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries, payroll taxes and benefits for corporate personnel. Other overhead costs include information technology, professional services fees, including accounting and legal services, and other general corporate expenses. We also incur expenses operating as a public company, including expenses necessary to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to companies listed on a national securities exchange and related to compliance and reporting obligations pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC, as well as higher expenses for general and director and officer insurance, investor relations, and professional services. Additionally, included in selling, general and administrative expenses are costs associated with the changes in fair value of the contingent consideration of acquisitions and other costs related to acquisition or divestiture

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transactions. These transaction-related costs are comprised of fees related to change of equity ownership, professional fees, due diligence and integration or divestiture activities.

Impairment of Goodwill and Indefinite-lived Assets

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired in an acquisition. We test for impairment of goodwill at the reporting unit level. We generally combine components that have similar economic characteristics, nature of services, types of clients, distribution methods and regulatory environment. For 2023 and 2022 we had two reporting units, sales and marketing, which were also our operating segments. We test our goodwill for impairment at the beginning of the fourth quarter of a given fiscal year, and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a reporting unit may exceed its fair value.

Other Expenses

Change in Fair Value of Warrant Liability

Change in fair value of warrant liability represents a non-cash (income) expense resulting from a fair value adjustment to warrant liability with respect to the private placement warrants. Based on the availability of sufficient observable information, we determine the fair value of the liability classified private placement warrants by approximating the value with the price of the public warrants at the respective period end, which is inherently less subjective and judgmental given it is based on observable inputs. We believe these amounts are not correlated to future business operations.

Interest Expense

Interest expense relates primarily to borrowings under our material debt agreements as described below. See “ —Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

Depreciation and Amortization

Amortization Expense

As a result of the 2014 Topco Acquisition, we acquired significant intangible assets, the value of which is amortized, on a straight-line basis, over 15 years from the date of the 2014 Topco Acquisition, unless determined to be indefinite-lived. Included in our depreciation and amortization expense is amortization of acquired intangible assets. We have ascribed value to identifiable intangible assets other than goodwill in our purchase price allocations for companies we have acquired. These assets include, but are not limited to, client relationships and trade names. To the extent we ascribe value to identifiable intangible assets that have finite lives, we amortize those values over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Such amortization expense, although non-cash in the period expensed, directly impacts our results of operations. It is difficult to predict with any precision the amount of expense we may record relating to future acquired intangible assets.

Depreciation Expense

Depreciation expense relates to the property and equipment that we own, which represented less than 1% of our total assets at December 31, 2023.

Income Taxes

Income tax (benefit) expense and our effective tax rates can be affected by many factors, including state apportionment factors, our acquisition strategy, tax incentives and credits available to us, changes in judgment regarding our ability to realize our deferred tax assets, changes in our worldwide mix of pre-tax losses or earnings, changes in existing tax laws and our assessment of uncertain tax positions.

Cash Flows

We have positive cash flow characteristics, as described below, due to the limited required capital investment in the fixed assets and working capital needs to operate our business in the normal course. See “ —Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

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Our principal sources of liquidity are cash flows from operations, borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility (as defined below), and other debt. Our principal uses of cash are operating expenses, working capital requirements, acquisitions and repayment of debt.

Adjusted Net Income

Adjusted Net Income is a non-GAAP financial measure. Adjusted Net Income means net loss before (i) impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived assets, (ii) gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries, (iii) loss on divestitures, (iv) amortization of intangible assets, (v) equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P., (vi) changes in fair value of warrant liability, (vii) fair value adjustments of contingent consideration related to acquisitions, (viii) acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (ix) costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (x) net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, (xi) reorganization expenses, (xii) litigation expenses, (xiii) deferred financing fees, (xiv) gain on repurchases of Term Loan Facility and Senior Secured Notes debt, (xv) recovery from and costs associated with the Take 5 Matter, (xvi) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance, and (xvii) related tax adjustments.

We present Adjusted Net Income because we use it as a supplemental measure to evaluate the performance of our business in a way that also considers our ability to generate profit without the impact of items that we do not believe are indicative of our operating performance or are unusual or infrequent in nature and aid in the comparability of our performance from period to period. Adjusted Net Income should not be considered as an alternative for net loss, our most directly comparable measure presented on a GAAP basis.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by Segment

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment are supplemental non-GAAP financial measures of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA means net loss before (i) interest expense, net, (ii) (benefit from) provision for income taxes, (iii) depreciation, (iv) impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived assets, (v) amortization of intangible assets, (vi) gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries, (vii) loss on divestitures, (viii) equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P., (ix) changes in fair value of warrant liability, (x) stock-based compensation expense, (xi) fair value adjustments of contingent consideration related to acquisitions, (xii) acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (xiii) costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (xiv) EBITDA for economic interests in investments, (xv) reorganization expenses, (xvi) litigation expenses, (xviii) recovery from and costs associated with the Take 5 Matter and (xix) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance.

We present Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment because they are key operating measures used by us to assess our financial performance. These measures adjust for items that we believe do not reflect the ongoing operating performance of our business, such as certain non-cash items, unusual or infrequent items or items that change from period to period without any material relevance to our operating performance. We evaluate these measures in conjunction with our results according to GAAP because we believe they provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than GAAP measures alone. Furthermore, the agreements governing our indebtedness contain covenants and other tests based on measures substantially similar to Adjusted EBITDA. Neither Adjusted EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA by segment should be considered as an alternative for net loss or operating income (loss), respectively, our most directly comparable measures presented on a GAAP basis. Non-GAAP financial measures are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expense and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, other companies may calculate non-GAAP measures differently, or may use other measures to calculate their financial performance, and therefore our non-GAAP measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss and Adjusted EBITDA by segment to operating income (loss), see “ —Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Take 5 Matter

On April 1, 2018, we acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Take 5 Media Group. In June 2019, as a result of a review of internal allegations related to inconsistency of data provided by Take 5 to its clients, we commenced an investigation into Take 5’s operations. In July 2019, as a result of our investigation, we terminated all operations of Take 5 and offered refunds to Take 5 clients of collected revenues attributable to Take 5 since our acquisition of Take 5. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, we incurred $0.3 million, $2.5 million, and $4.9 million, respectively, of costs associated with the investigation and remediation activities in connection with the Take 5 Matter, primarily professional fees and other related costs. These costs were recorded in “Selling, general, and administrative expenses” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income for such years.

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Reorganization Charges

Reorganization charges include severance plans designed to integrate and reduce costs intended to further improve efficiencies in operational activities and align cost structures consistent with revenue levels associated with business changes. We recorded severance expenses of $15.4 million, $3.2 million, and $1.0 million included in “Selling, general, and administrative expenses” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

(1)
Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. For a discussion of our presentation of Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA and reconciliations of net loss to Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EBITDA, see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Revenues

Total revenues increased by $175.1 million, or 4.3%, during the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

The sales segment revenues decreased $62.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Excluding $91.4 million of revenues from divested businesses and the deconsolidation of our European joint venture, net of acquired businesses and favorable foreign exchange rates of $1.3 million, the segment experienced an increase of $28.2 million in organic revenues primarily due to an increase in our retail-centric merchandising services with an increase in volume and pricing realization as well as growth in our European joint venture, partially offset by an intentional client exit.

The marketing segment revenues increased $237.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, which includes revenues of $0.3 million from acquired businesses, net of a divested business. Excluding revenues from acquired businesses, net of a divested business and unfavorable foreign exchange rates of $9.1 million, the segment experienced an increase of $245.9 million in organic revenues. The increase in revenues was primarily due to an increase in our in-store sampling and demonstration services and pricing realization, partially offset by a decrease in certain of our digital services.

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Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 was 86.6%, as compared to 86.5% for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is consistent year over year.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 was 6.3%, as compared to 4.6% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase as a percentage of revenues was primarily attributable to our internal reorganization activities, largely related to professional fees and severance, coupled with increased incentive compensation and technology expenses.

Impairment of Goodwill and Indefinite-lived Assets

We recognized a $43.5 million non-cash trade name intangible asset impairment charge during the year ended December 31, 2023. The impairment charges were due to the deconsolidation of our European joint venture and intended sale of the foodservice businesses. We recognized a $1,367.5 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge and a $205.0 million non-cash intangible asset impairment charge during the year ended December 31, 2022. The impairment charges were due to the confluence of sustained decline in our share price, challenges in the labor market and continued inflationary pressures, and an increase to the discount rate as a result of the increases in interest rates during 2022.

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense was $224.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $233.1 million, which was primarily due to a decrease in software amortization expenses and intangible assets amortization expense.

Gain on Deconsolidation of Subsidiaries

On November 30, 2023, we reduced our equity interest in ASL, our European joint venture, from a majority interest of under 60% to a minority interest of 49.6% in exchange for $1.0 million in cash. We also removed certain participating rights with ASL related to capital allocation and certain of our decision making rights, resulting in a loss of control. Therefore, in accordance with ASC 810, ASL was deconsolidated from our consolidated financial statements resulting in the recognition of a $58.9 million gain for the year ended December 31, 2023. Effective December 1, 2023, our investment in ASL is accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

Loss on Divestitures

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recognized a loss on the sale of businesses of $19.1 million. We determined the sale of the businesses did not meet the criteria for classification as discontinued operations. We received $21.1 million of proceeds, which are net of transaction fees and holdbacks.

Income from Unconsolidated Investments

Income from unconsolidated investments increased by $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 due to the net income attributable from our unconsolidated affiliates as a result of the deconsolidation of ASL. Subsequent to the deconsolidation of ASL, we anticipate that over the next few years these investments will become a growing source of income and operating cash flows. For additional information see Item 8. Financial Statements And Supplementary Data — Note 10. Investments.

Operating Income (Loss)

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The change in operating income (loss) was primarily attributable to the non-cash goodwill and non-cash intangible asset impairment charges in the prior year and the gain on deconsolidation of ASL, partially offset by the charges in selling, general and administrative expenses and non-cash intangible asset impairment charges as described above.

Change in Fair Value of Warrant Liability

Change in fair value of warrant liability represents $0.3 million of non-cash gain resulting from a fair value adjustment to the warrant liability for the private placement warrants for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense, net increased $61.3 million, or 58.7%, to $165.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, from $104.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in interest expense, net was primarily due to the higher interest rates and a decrease in fair value in our derivative instruments, partially offset by gains associated with the repurchases of Term Loan Facility and Second Term debt for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Benefit from Income Taxes

Benefit from income taxes was $29.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to a benefit from income taxes of $145.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The fluctuation was primarily attributable to the decrease in pre-tax loss for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. In addition, the variance is explained by the non-cash goodwill impairment charge for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the deconsolidation of our European joint venture for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Net Loss

Net loss was $60.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to net loss of $1,377.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in net loss was driven by the increase in operating income partially offset by the increase in interest expense as described above.

Adjusted Net Income

The decrease in Adjusted Net Income for the year ended December 31, 2023 was attributable to the decrease in Adjusted EBITDA as described below coupled with the increase in interest expense. For a reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to Net loss, see “ —Non-GAAP Financial Measures”.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by Segment

Adjusted EBITDA decreased $11.6 million, or 2.7% to $424.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, from $436.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

In the sales segment, the decrease in Adjusted EBITDA during the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily attributable to decline in revenues and increase in cost of revenues, largely due to inflationary pressures, increase in incentive compensation and technology expenses.

In the marketing segment, the increase in Adjusted EBITDA during the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily attributable to the growth in revenues from the in-store sampling and demonstration services as described above, partially offset by headwinds in our higher-margin digital services.

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For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), see “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted Net Income is a non-GAAP financial measure. Adjusted Net Income means net (loss) income before (i) amortization of intangible assets, (ii) impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived assets (iii) gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries, (iv) loss on divestitures (v) equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P., (vi) changes in fair value of warrant liability, (vii) fair value adjustments of contingent consideration related to acquisitions, (viii) acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (iv) costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (x) net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, (xi) reorganization expenses, (xii) litigation expenses, (xiii) gain on repurchases of Term Loan Facility and Senior Secured Notes debt, (xiv) deferred financing fees, (xv) recovery from and costs associated with the Take 5 Matter, (xvi) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance, and (xvii) related tax adjustments.

We present Adjusted Net Income because we use it as a supplemental measure to evaluate the performance of our business in a way that also considers our ability to generate profit without the impact of items that we do not believe are indicative of our operating performance or are unusual or infrequent in nature and aid in the comparability of our performance from period to period. Adjusted Net Income should not be considered as an alternative for our net (loss) income, our most directly comparable measure presented on a GAAP basis.

A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to Net (loss) income is provided in the following table:

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment are supplemental non-GAAP financial measures of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA means net loss before (i) interest expense, net, (ii) (benefit from) provision for income taxes, (iii) depreciation, (iv) impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived assets, (v) amortization of intangible assets, (vi) gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries, (vii) loss on divestitures, (viii) equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P., (ix) changes in fair value of warrant liability, (x) stock-based compensation expense, (xi) fair value adjustments of contingent consideration related to acquisitions, (xii) acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (xiii) costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (xiv) EBITDA for economic interests in investments, (xv) reorganization expenses, (xvi) litigation expenses, (xvii) recovery from and costs associated with the Take 5 Matter and (xviii) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance.

We present Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by segment because they are key operating measures used by us to assess our financial performance. These measures adjust for items that we believe do not reflect the ongoing operating performance of our business, such as certain non-cash items, unusual or infrequent items or items that change from period to period without any material relevance to our operating performance. We evaluate these measures in conjunction with our results according to GAAP because we believe they provide a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than GAAP measures alone. Furthermore, the agreements governing our indebtedness contain covenants and other tests based on measures substantially similar to Adjusted EBITDA. Neither Adjusted EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA by segment should be considered as an alternative for our net

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(loss) income or operating (loss) income, respectively, our most directly comparable measures presented on a GAAP basis. Non-GAAP financial measures are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expense and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, other companies may calculate non-GAAP measures differently, or may use other measures to calculate their financial performance, and therefore our non-GAAP measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net (loss) income is provided in the following table:

Financial information by segment, including a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA by segment to operating (loss) income, the closest GAAP financial measure, is provided in the following table:

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(a)
Represents expenses related to (i) equity-based compensation expense associated with grants of Common Series D Units of Topco made to one of the Advantage Sponsors, and (ii) equity-based compensation expense associated with the Common Series C Units of Topco.

(b)
Represents adjustments to the estimated fair value of our contingent consideration liabilities related to our acquisitions, for the applicable periods. See Note 6—Other Liabilities to our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

(c)
Represents fees and costs associated with activities related to our acquisitions, divestitures, and related reorganization activities, including professional fees, due diligence, and integration activities.

(d)
Represents fees and costs associated with various internal reorganization activities, including professional fees, lease exit costs, severance, and nonrecurring compensation costs.

(e)
Represents legal settlements, reserves, and expenses that are unusual or infrequent costs associated with our operating activities.

(f)
Represents the amortization of intangible assets recorded in connection with the 2014 Topco Acquisition and our other acquisitions.

(g)
Represents (i) costs related to implementation of strategies for workplace safety in response to COVID-19, including employee-relief fund, additional sick pay for front-line associates, medical benefit payments for furloughed associates, and personal protective equipment; and (ii) benefits received from government grants for COVID-19 relief.

(h)
Represents fees associated with the issuance of the indebtedness associated with our material debt agreements and the amendment of our term loan credit facility. For additional information, refer to Note 7—Debt of our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

(i)
Represents a gain associated with the repurchases of Term Loan Facility and Senior Secured Note debt. For additional information, refer to Note 7—Debt of our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

(j)
Represents cash receipts from an insurance policy for claims related to the Take 5 Matter and costs associated with investigation and remediation activities related to the Take 5 Matter, primarily, professional fees and other related costs.

(k)
Represents the tax provision or benefit associated with the adjustments above, taking into account the Company’s applicable tax rates, after excluding adjustments related to items that do not have a related tax impact.

(l)
Represents non-cash compensation expense related to PSUs, RSUs, and stock options under the 2020 Plan and the Advantage Solutions 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

(m)
Represents additions to reflect our proportional share of Adjusted EBITDA related to our equity method investments and reductions to remove the Adjusted EBITDA related to the minority ownership percentage of the entities that we fully consolidate in our financial statements.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal sources of liquidity were cash flows from operations, borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility, and other debt. Our principal uses of cash are operating expenses, working capital requirements, acquisitions, interest on debt and repayment of debt.

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Share Repurchase Program

On November 9, 2021, we announced that our board of directors authorized the 2021 Share Repurchase Program pursuant to which we may repurchase up to $100 million of our Class A common stock.

The 2021 Share Repurchase Program does not have an expiration date but provides for suspension or discontinuation at any time. The 2021 Share Repurchase Program permits the repurchase of our Class A common stock on the open market and in other means from time to time. The timing and amount of any share repurchase is subject to prevailing market conditions, relevant securities laws and other considerations, and we are under no obligation to repurchase any specific number of shares.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we executed open market purchases of $6.4 million of our Class A common stock under the 2021 Share Repurchase Program. As of December 31, 2023, there remained $81.1 million of share repurchase availability under the 2021 Share Repurchase Program as of December 31, 2023. In December 2023, the Company entered into a trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act authorizing the repurchase of shares of the Company’s Class A common stock. No stock repurchases were made pursuant to this plan for the year ended December 31, 2023.

We anticipate that our cash from operations, together with our current borrowing capacity, will be sufficient to fund purchases of our Class A common stock pursuant to the 2021 Share Repurchase Program and pay principal and interest as it comes due under our debt arrangements.

Cash Flows

A summary of cash provided by or used in our operating, investing and financing activities are shown in the following table:

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2023, consisted of net loss of $60.3 million adjusted for certain non-cash items, including depreciation and amortization of $224.7 million, impairment charge of $43.5 million, loss on divestitures of $19.1 million, gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries of $58.9 million, gain on repurchases of Term Loan Facility and Senior Secured Notes debt of $8.7 million, and effects of changes in working capital. Net cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022, consisted of net loss of $1,377.3 million adjusted for certain non-cash items, including depreciation and amortization of $233.1 million and effects of changes in working capital. The increase in cash provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 relative to the same period in 2022 was primarily due to the increased need for working capital requirements to stand up our services during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Net Cash Used in Investing Activities

For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, our net cash used in investing activities primarily consisted of the purchase of property and equipment of $46.3 million and $40.5 million, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2023 our net cash used in investing activities included the deconsolidation of subsidiaries, net of proceeds of $31.5 million, partially offset by proceeds from divestitures of $21.1 million. Additionally, we invest cash for the purchase of property and equipment to support our employee and overall growth in our business. We expect that we will make additional capital expenditures and investments in the future to support the future growth of our business including our enterprise resource planning software.

Net Cash Used in Financing Activities

We primarily finance our business initiatives through cash flows from operations, however, we also incur long-term debt or borrow under lines of credit when necessary to execute acquisitions. Cash flows from financing activities consisted of borrowings related to these lines of credit and subsequent payments of principal and financing fees. Additionally, many of our acquisition agreements include contingent consideration arrangements, which are generally based on the achievement of future financial performance by the operations attributable to the acquired companies. The portion of the cash payment up to the acquisition date fair

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value of the contingent consideration liability are classified as financing outflows, and amounts paid in excess of the acquisition date fair value of that liability are classified as operating outflows. From time to time, we may voluntarily repurchase our long-term debt to deploy capital that deleverages our balance sheet while generating a favorable rate of return.

Cash flows used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 were primarily related to repurchases of Term Loan Facility and Senior Secured Notes debt of $156.6 million, repayment of principal on our Term Loan Facility of $13.6 million, payments of contingent consideration and holdback payments of $6.8 million, and open market purchases of $6.4 million of our Class A common stock under the 2021 Share Repurchase Program. This was partially offset by $1.3 million of proceeds from a government loan for COVID-19 relief and $2.2 million related to proceeds from shares issued under the 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Cash flows used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 were primarily related to payments of contingent consideration and holdback payments of $34.2 million, repayment of principal on our Term Loan Facility of $13.4 million, partially offset by $3.3 million related to our 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and $5.2 million of contribution from noncontrolling interest.

Description of Credit Facilities

Senior Secured Credit Facilities

Effective October 28, 2020, Advantage Sales & Marketing Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Borrower”), entered into the Senior Secured Credit Facilities consisting of (i) the Revolving Credit Facility, which is a senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $400.0 million, subject to borrowing base capacity and (ii) the Term Loan Facility, which is a secured first lien term loan credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $1.325 billion.

Revolving Credit Facility

Our Revolving Credit Facility provides for revolving loans and letters of credit in an aggregate amount of up to $500.0 million, subject to borrowing base capacity. Letters of credit are limited to the lesser of (a) $150.0 million and (b) the aggregate unused amount of commitments under our Revolving Credit Facility then in effect. Loans under the Revolving Credit Facility may be denominated in either U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars. Bank of America, N.A. (“Bank of America”), will act as administrative agent and collateral agent. The Revolving Credit Facility matures five years after the date we enter into the Revolving Credit Facility. We may use borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility to fund working capital and for other general corporate purposes, including permitted acquisitions and other investments.

Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility are limited by borrowing base calculations based on the sum of specified percentages of eligible accounts receivable plus specified percentages of qualified cash, minus the amount of any applicable reserves. Borrowings will bear interest at a floating rate, which can be either an adjusted Term SOFR or Alternative Currency Spread rate plus an applicable margin or, at the Borrower’s option, a base rate or Canadian Prime Rate plus an applicable margin. The applicable margins for the Revolving Credit Facility are 1.75%, 2.00% or 2.25%, with respect to Term SOFR or Alternative Currency Spread rate borrowings and 0.75%, 1.00%, or 1.25%, with respect to base rate or Canadian Prime Rate borrowings, in each case depending on average excess availability under the Revolving Credit Facility. The Borrower’s ability to draw under the Revolving Credit Facility or issue letters of credit thereunder will be conditioned upon, among other things, the Borrower’s delivery of prior written notice of a borrowing or issuance, as applicable, the Borrower’s ability to reaffirm the representations and warranties contained in the credit agreement governing the Revolving Credit Facility and the absence of any default or event of default thereunder.

The Borrower’s obligations under the Revolving Credit Facility are guaranteed by Karman Intermediate Corp. (“Holdings”) and all of the Borrower’s direct and indirect wholly owned material U.S. subsidiaries (subject to certain permitted exceptions) and Canadian subsidiaries (subject to certain permitted exceptions, including exceptions based on immateriality thresholds of aggregate assets and revenues of Canadian subsidiaries) (the “Guarantors”). The Revolving Credit Facility is secured by a lien on substantially all of Holdings’, the Borrower’s and the Guarantors’ assets (subject to certain permitted exceptions). The Borrower’s Revolving Credit Facility has a first-priority lien on the current asset collateral and a second-priority lien on security interests in the fixed asset collateral (second in priority to the liens securing the Notes and the Term Loan Facility discussed below), in each case, subject to other permitted liens.

The Revolving Credit Facility has the following fees: (i) an unused line fee of 0.375% or 0.250% per annum of the unused portion of the Revolving Credit Facility, depending on average excess availability under the Revolving Credit Facility; (ii) a letter of credit participation fee on the aggregate stated amount of each letter of credit equal to the applicable margin for adjusted Eurodollar rate loans, as applicable; and (iii) certain other customary fees and expenses of the lenders and agents thereunder.

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The Revolving Credit Facility contains customary covenants, including, but not limited to, restrictions on the Borrower’s ability and that of our subsidiaries to merge and consolidate with other companies, incur indebtedness, grant liens or security interests on assets, make acquisitions, loans, advances or investments, pay dividends, sell or otherwise transfer assets, optionally prepay or modify terms of any junior indebtedness, enter into transactions with affiliates or change our line of business. The Revolving Credit Facility will require the maintenance of a fixed charge coverage ratio (as set forth in the credit agreement governing the Revolving Credit Facility) of 1.00 to 1.00 at the end of each fiscal quarter when excess availability is less than the greater of $25 million and 10% of the lesser of the borrowing base and maximum borrowing capacity. Such fixed charge coverage ratio will be tested at the end of each quarter until such time as excess availability exceeds the level set forth above.

The Revolving Credit Facility provides that, upon the occurrence of certain events of default, the Borrower’s obligations thereunder may be accelerated and the lending commitments terminated. Such events of default include payment defaults to the lenders thereunder, material inaccuracies of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, cross-defaults to other material indebtedness, voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy, insolvency, corporate arrangement, winding-up, liquidation or similar proceedings, material money judgments, material pension-plan events, certain change of control events and other customary events of default.

On October 28, 2021, the Borrower and Holdings entered into the First Amendment to ABL Revolving Credit Agreement, which amended the ABL Revolving Credit Agreement, dated October 28, 2020, by and among the Borrower, Holdings, the lenders from time to time party thereto and Bank of America, as administrative agent (the “Prior Revolving Credit Facility”). This amendment was entered into by the Borrower to amend certain terms and provisions, including (i) reducing the interest rate floor for Eurocurrency rate loans from 0.50% to 0.00% and base rate loans from 1.50% to 1.00%, and (ii) updating the provisions by which U.S. Dollar LIBOR will eventually be replaced with SOFR or another interest rate benchmark to reflect the most recent standards and practices used in the industry.

On December 2, 2022, Borrower, Holdings and certain of the Borrower’s subsidiaries, entered into the Second Amendment to ABL Revolving Credit Agreement (the “Second Amendment”), which amends the Revolving Credit Agreement, by and among the Borrower, Holdings, the lenders from time to time party thereto and Bank of America, as administrative agent, and the other parties thereto. The Second Amendment was entered into by the Borrower to amend certain terms and provisions of the Second Agreement, including, among other things: (i) increasing the aggregate amount of maximum revolving commitments available from $400 million to $500 million; (ii) replacing the Eurocurrency Rate interest rate metric with a metric based on Term SOFR (as defined in the Second Amendment), whereby applicable borrowings in United States dollars will bear interest at a floating rate based on Term SOFR plus an applicable margin; (iii) reducing each applicable interest rate pricing tier based on the Average Historical Excess Availability (as defined therein) with respect to Term SOFR borrowings, Alternative Currency borrowings, base rate borrowings and Canadian Prime Rate borrowings, in each case for each pricing tier by 0.25% per annum; and (iv) extending the scheduled maturity date of the borrowings to December 2, 2027.

Term Loan Facility

The Term Loan Facility consists of a term loan credit facility denominated in U.S. dollars in an aggregate principal amount of $1.149 billion. Borrowings under the Term Loan Facility amortize in equal quarterly installments in an amount equal to 1.00% per annum of the principal amount. Borrowings will bear interest at a floating rate of Term SOFR plus an applicable margin of 4.50% per annum, subject to additional spread adjustment on SOFR ranging from 0.11% to 0.26%.

The Borrower may voluntarily prepay loans or reduce commitments under the Term Loan Facility, in whole or in part, subject to minimum amounts, with prior notice but without premium or penalty.

The Borrower will be required to prepay the Term Loan Facility with 100% of the net cash proceeds of certain asset sales (such percentage subject to reduction based on the achievement of specific first lien net leverage ratios) and subject to certain reinvestment rights, 100% of the net cash proceeds of certain debt issuances and 50% of excess cash flow (such percentage subject to reduction based on the achievement of specific first lien net leverage ratios).

The Borrower’s obligations under the Term Loan Facility are guaranteed by Holdings and the Guarantors. Our Term Loan Facility is secured by a lien on substantially all of Holdings’, the Borrower’s and the Guarantors’ assets (subject to certain permitted exceptions). The Term Loan Facility has a first- priority lien on the fixed asset collateral (equal in priority with the liens securing the Notes) and a second-priority lien on security interests in the current asset collateral (second in priority to the liens securing the Revolving Credit Facility), in each case, subject to other permitted liens.

The Term Loan Facility contains certain customary negative covenants, including, but not limited to, restrictions on the Borrower’s ability and that of our restricted subsidiaries to merge and consolidate with other companies, incur indebtedness, grant

45

liens or security interests on assets, pay dividends or make other restricted payments, sell or otherwise transfer assets or enter into transactions with affiliates.

The Term Loan Facility provides that, upon the occurrence of certain events of default, the Borrower’s obligations thereunder may be accelerated. Such events of default will include payment defaults to the lenders thereunder, material inaccuracies of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, cross-defaults to other material indebtedness, voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy, insolvency, corporate arrangement, winding-up, liquidation or similar proceedings, material money judgments, change of control and other customary events of default.

On October 28, 2021, the Borrower, Holdings, and certain of the Borrower’s subsidiaries, entered into Amendment No. 1 to the First Lien Credit Agreement (the “First Lien Amendment”), which amended the First Lien Credit Agreement, dated October 28, 2020, by and among the Borrower, Holdings, Bank of America, as administrative agent and collateral agent, each lender party from time-to-time thereto, and the other parties thereto. The First Lien Amendment was entered into by the Borrower to reduce the applicable interest rate on the term loan to 5.25% per annum, resulting in estimated interest savings of approximately $9.9 million or $7.3 million, net of tax, per annum. Additional terms and provisions amended include (i) resetting the period for six months following October 28, 2021 in which a 1.00% prepayment premium shall apply to any prepayment of the term loan in connection with certain repricing events, and (ii) updating the provisions by which U.S. Dollar LIBOR will eventually be replaced with SOFR or another interest rate benchmark to reflect the most recent standards and practices used in the industry and by Bank of America. In May 2023 the Company amended the Term Loan Facility to replace the U.S. Dollar LIBOR provisions with SOFR, effective June 30, 2023.

Senior Secured Notes

Effective as of October 28, 2020, Advantage Solutions FinCo LLC (“Finco”) issued $775.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.50% Senior Secured Notes due 2028 (the “Notes”). Substantially concurrently with the issuance, Finco merged with and into Advantage Sales & Marketing Inc. (the “Issuer”), with the Issuer continuing as the surviving entity and assuming the obligations of Finco. The Notes were sold to certain financial institutions that then resold the Notes to certain non-U.S. persons pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act, and to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act at a purchase price equal to 100% of their principal amount. The terms of the Notes are governed by an Indenture, dated as of October 28, 2020 (the “Indenture”), among Finco, the Issuer, the guarantors named therein (the “Notes Guarantors”) and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as trustee and collateral agent.

Interest and maturity

Interest on the Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on May 15 and November 15 at a rate of 6.50% per annum, commencing on May 15, 2021. The Notes will mature on November 15, 2028.

Guarantees

The Notes are guaranteed by Holdings and each of the Issuer’s direct and indirect wholly owned material U.S. subsidiaries (subject to certain permitted exceptions) and Canadian subsidiaries (subject to certain permitted exceptions, including exceptions based on immateriality thresholds of aggregate assets and revenues of Canadian subsidiaries) that is a borrower or guarantor under the Term Loan Facility.

Security and ranking

The Notes and the related guarantees are the general, senior secured obligations of the Issuer and the Notes Guarantors, are secured on a first-priority pari passu basis by security interests on the fixed asset collateral (equal in priority with liens securing the Term Loan Facility), and are secured on a second-priority basis by security interests on the current asset collateral (second in priority to the liens securing the Revolving Credit Facility and equal in priority with liens securing the Term Loan Facility), in each case, subject to certain limitations and exceptions and permitted liens.

The Notes and related guarantees rank (i) equally in right of payment with all of the Issuer’s and the Guarantors’ senior indebtedness, without giving effect to collateral arrangements (including the Senior Secured Credit Facilities) and effectively equal to all of the Issuer’s and the Guarantors’ senior indebtedness secured on the same priority basis as the Notes, including the Term Loan Facility, (ii) effectively subordinated to any of the Issuer’s and the Guarantors’ indebtedness that is secured by assets that do not constitute collateral for the Notes to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness and to indebtedness that is secured by a senior-priority lien, including the Revolving Credit Facility to the extent of the value of the current asset collateral and (iii) structurally subordinated to the liabilities of the Issuer’s non-Guarantor subsidiaries.

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Optional redemption for the Notes

The Notes are redeemable at the applicable redemption prices specified in the Indenture plus accrued and unpaid interest. If the Issuer or its restricted subsidiaries sell certain of their respective assets or experience specific kinds of changes of control, subject to certain exceptions, the Issuer must offer to purchase the Notes at par. In connection with any offer to purchase all Notes, if holders of no less than 90% of the aggregate principal amount of Notes validly tender their Notes, the Issuer is entitled to redeem any remaining Notes at the price offered to each holder. The Issuer may voluntarily prepay loans or reduce commitments under the Notes, in whole or in part without premium or penalty.

Restrictive covenants

The Notes are subject to covenants that, among other things limit the Issuer’s ability and its restricted subsidiaries’ ability to: incur additional indebtedness or guarantee indebtedness; pay dividends or make other distributions in respect of, or repurchase or redeem, the Issuer’s or a parent entity’s capital stock; prepay, redeem or repurchase certain indebtedness; issue certain preferred stock or similar equity securities; make loans and investments; sell or otherwise dispose of assets; incur liens; enter into transactions with affiliates; enter into agreements restricting the Issuer’s subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends; and consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of the Issuer’s assets. Most of these covenants will be suspended on the Notes when they have investment grade ratings from both Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. and S&P Global Ratings and so long as no default or event of default under the Indenture has occurred and is continuing.

Events of default

The following constitute events of default under the Notes, among others: default in the payment of interest; default in the payment of principal; failure to comply with covenants; failure to pay other indebtedness after final maturity or acceleration of other indebtedness exceeding a specified amount; certain events of bankruptcy; failure to pay a judgment for payment of money exceeding a specified aggregate amount; voidance of subsidiary guarantees; failure of any material provision of any security document or intercreditor agreement to be in full force and effect; and lack of perfection of liens on a material portion of the collateral, in each case subject to applicable grace periods.

Future Cash Requirements

The following summarizes future cash requirements as of December 31, 2023:

(1)
Refer to Note 8 — Leases of our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 for additional information regarding the maturity of operating lease liabilities.

(2)
Represents payments collected from our clients, primarily, associated with market development funds that arise out of our business.

(3)
We have an aggregate principal amount of $1.149 billion borrowing on the Term Loan Facility, which bears the applicable interest rate of 5.25% per annum, and $743.0 million in Senior Secured Notes, which is subject to a fixed interest rate of 6.5%. Refer to Note 7 — Debt of our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 for additional information regarding the maturities of debt principal. Total debt excluding deferred issuance costs does not include the obligation of future interest payments.

(4)
Refer to Note 6 — Other Liabilities of our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 for additional information regarding the contingent consideration liabilities.

(5)
Represents $63.0 million of an estimated liability under our workers’ compensation programs for claims incurred but unpaid and $8.9 million of employee insurance reserves as of December 31, 2023.

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Cash and Cash Equivalents Held Outside the United States

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, $43.8 million and $81.8 million, respectively, of our cash and cash equivalents were held by foreign subsidiaries. The decrease in cash and cash equivalents held by foreign subsidiaries during the year ended December 31, 2023 was due to the deconsolidation of ASL. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, $30.4 million and $28.1 million, respectively, of our cash and cash equivalents were held by foreign branches.

We assessed our determination as to our indefinite reinvestment intent for certain of our foreign subsidiaries and recorded a deferred tax liability of approximately $0.4 million of withholding tax as of December 31, 2023 for unremitted earnings in Canada with respect to which we do not have an indefinite reinvestment assertion. We will continue to evaluate our cash needs, however we currently do not intend, nor do we foresee a need, to repatriate funds from the foreign subsidiaries except for Canada. We have continued to assert indefinite reinvestment on all other earnings as it is necessary for continuing operations and to grow the business. If at a point in the future our assertion changes, we will evaluate tax-efficient means to repatriate the income. In addition, we expect existing domestic cash and cash flows from operations to continue to be sufficient to fund our domestic operating activities and cash commitments for investing and financing activities, such as debt repayment and capital expenditures, for at least the next 12 months and thereafter for the foreseeable future. If we should require more capital in the United States than is generated by our domestic operations, for example, to fund significant discretionary activities such as business acquisitions or to settle debt, we could elect to repatriate future earnings from foreign jurisdictions. These alternatives could result in higher income tax expense or increased interest expense. We consider the majority of the undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries, as of December 31, 2023, to be indefinitely reinvested and, accordingly, no provision has been made for taxes in excess of the $0.4 million noted above.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or liabilities, guarantee contracts, retained or contingent interests in transferred assets or any obligation arising out of a material variable interest in an unconsolidated entity. We do not have any majority-owned subsidiaries that are not included in our consolidated financial statements. Additionally, we do not have an interest in, or relationships with, any special-purpose entities.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and related notes, as well as the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. We evaluate our accounting policies, estimates and judgments on an on-going basis. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.

We evaluated the development and selection of our critical accounting policies and estimates and believe that the following involve a higher degree of judgment or complexity and are most significant to reporting our results of operations and financial position, and are therefore discussed as critical. The following critical accounting policies reflect the significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. With respect to critical accounting policies, even a relatively minor variance between actual and expected experience can potentially have a materially favorable or unfavorable impact on subsequent results of operations. More information on all of our significant accounting policies can be found in the footnotes to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenues when control of promised goods or services are transferred to the client in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to be entitled to in exchange for such goods or services. Substantially all of our contracts with clients involve the transfer of a service to the client, which represents the performance obligation that is satisfied over time because the client simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits of the services provided. In most cases, the contracts include a performance obligation that is comprised of a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer (i.e., distinct days of service). We allocate variable consideration to each period of service to which it relates.

Revenues related to the sales segment are primarily recognized in the form of commissions, fee-for-service or on a cost-plus basis for providing headquarter relationship management, analytics, insights and intelligence services, administrative services, retail services, retailer client relationships and in-store media programs and digital technology solutions (which include our business intelligence solutions, e-commerce services and content services).

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Marketing segment revenues are primarily recognized in the form of a fee-for-service (including retainer fees, fees charged to clients based on hours incurred, project-based fees or fees for executing in-person consumer engagements or experiences, which engagements or experiences we refer to as events), commissions or on a cost-plus basis for providing experiential marketing, shopper and consumer marketing services, private label development and our digital, social and media services.

Our revenue recognition policies generally result in recognition of revenues at the time services are performed. Our accounting policy for revenue recognition has an impact on our reported results and relies on certain estimates that require judgments on the part of management. We record an allowance as a reduction to revenue for differences between estimated revenues and the amounts ultimately invoiced to our clients based on our historical experience and current trends. Cash collected in advance of services being performed is recorded as deferred revenues.

We have contracts that include variable consideration whereby the ultimate consideration is contingent on future events such as the client’s sales to retailers, hours worked, event count, costs incurred and performance incentive bonuses. Commission revenues are generally earned upon performance of headquarter relationship management, analytics, insights and intelligence, e-commerce, administration and retail services arrangements. As part of these arrangements, we provide a variety of services to consumer goods manufacturers in order to improve the manufacturer’s sales to retailers. This includes primarily outsourced sales, business development, category and space management, relationship management and in-store sales strategy services. In exchange for these services, we earn an agreed upon percentage of our client’s sales to retailers, which is agreed upon on a manufacturer-by-manufacturer basis. We may be entitled to additional fees upon meeting specific performance goals or thresholds, which we refer to as bonus revenue. The variability of the consideration for the services transferred during a reporting period is typically resolved by the end of the reporting period. However, for certain client contracts, we estimate the variable consideration for the services that have been transferred to the client during the reporting period. We typically estimate the variable consideration based on the expected value method. Estimates are based on historical experience and current facts known during the reporting period. We recognize revenue related to variable consideration if it is probable that a significant reversal of revenue recognized will not occur. When such probable threshold is not satisfied, we will constrain some or all of the variable consideration, and such constrained amount will not be recognized as revenue until the probable threshold is met or the uncertainty is resolved and the final amount is known. We record an adjustment to revenue for differences between estimated revenues and the amounts ultimately invoiced to the client. Adjustments to revenue during the current period related to services transferred during prior periods were not material for the year ended December 31, 2023.

We have contracts that include fixed consideration such as a fee per project or a fixed monthly fee. For contracts with a fee per project, revenue is recognized over time using an input method such as hours worked that reasonably depicts our performance in transferring control of the services to the client. We determined that the input method represents a reasonable method to measure the satisfaction of the performance obligation to the client. For contracts with a fixed monthly fee, revenue is recognized using a time-based measure resulting in a straight-line revenue recognition. A time-based measure was determined to represent a reasonable method to measure the satisfaction of the performance obligation to the client because we have a stand ready obligation to make itself available to provide services upon the client’s request or the client receives the benefit from our services evenly over the contract period.

We evaluate each client contract individually in accordance with the applicable accounting guidance to determine whether we act as a principal (whereby we would present revenue on a gross basis) or as an agent (whereby we would present revenue on a net basis). While we primarily act as a principal in our arrangements and report revenues on a gross basis, given the varying terms of our client contracts, we will occasionally act as an agent and in such instances present revenues on a net basis. For example, for certain advertising arrangements, our clients purchase media content in advance, and we do not take on any risk of recovering the cost to acquire the media. As a result, we determined we act as the agent in these arrangements and record revenues and their related costs on a net basis as its agency services are performed. However, in cases where media is not purchased in advance by our clients, we record such revenues and the related costs on a gross basis, as we bear the risk of recovering the costs to acquire the media and are responsible for fulfillment of the services.

We record revenues from sales of services and the related direct costs in accordance with the accounting guidance on reporting revenue gross as a principal versus net as an agent. In situations where we act as a principal in the transaction, we report gross revenues and cost of revenues. When we act as an agent, we report the revenues and their related costs on a net basis.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of the net identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired in an acquisition. We test for impairment of goodwill at the reporting unit level. We generally combine components that have similar economic characteristics, nature of services, types of clients, distribution methods and regulatory environment. We have two reporting units, sales and marketing, which are also our operating segments.

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We test our goodwill for impairment at the beginning of the fourth quarter of a given fiscal year, and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a reporting unit may exceed its fair value. We have the option to perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value before performing a quantitative impairment test. To the extent that the qualitative approach indicates that it is more likely than not that the carrying amount is less than its fair value, we apply a quantitative approach. When it is determined that a quantitative impairment test should be performed, if the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, goodwill is impaired and the excess of the reporting unit’s carrying value over the fair value is recognized as an impairment loss; however, the loss recognized would not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.

Our annual goodwill impairment assessment for each year is performed effective as of October 1. We utilize a combination of income and market approaches to estimate the fair value of our reporting units. The income approach utilizes estimates of discounted cash flows of the reporting units, which requires assumptions for, the reporting units’ revenue growth rates, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) margins, terminal growth rate, discount rate, and incremental net working capital, all of which require significant management judgment. The market approach applies market multiples derived from the historical earnings data of selected guideline publicly-traded companies to our reporting units’ businesses to yield a second assumed value of each reporting unit, which requires significant management judgment. The guideline companies are first screened by industry group and then further narrowed based on the reporting units’ business descriptions, markets served, competitors, EBITDA margins and revenue size. Market multiples are then selected from within the range of these guideline companies’ multiples based on the subject reporting unit. We compare a weighted average of the output from the income and market approaches to the carrying value of each reporting unit. We also compare the aggregate estimated fair value of our reporting units to the estimated value of our total market capitalization. The assumptions in the income and market approach are based on significant inputs not observable in the market and thus represent Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy (described in “Fair Value Measurements in Note 1, Organization and Significant Accounting Policies,”). We based our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but which are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. A change in these underlying assumptions would cause a change in the results of the tests and, as such, could cause fair value to be less than the carrying amounts and result in an impairment of goodwill in the future. Additionally, if actual results are not consistent with the estimates and assumptions or if there are significant changes to our planned strategy, it may cause fair value to be less than the carrying amounts and result in an impairment of goodwill in the future.

In connection with our annual quantitative impairment test effective as of October 1, 2023, we concluded that our goodwill was not impaired as of October 1, 2023. The fair value of the sales reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by 19.1% as of October 1, 2023. The fair value of the marketing reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by 6.8% as of October 1, 2023.

Indefinite-Lived Assets

Our indefinite-lived intangible assets are comprised of our sales and marketing trade names. Intangible assets with indefinite useful lives are not amortized but tested annually, at the beginning of the fourth quarter, for impairment or more often if events occur or circumstances change that would create a triggering event. We have the option to perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that the indefinite-lived intangible asset’s fair value is less than its carrying value before performing a quantitative impairment test. We test our indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment using a relief from royalty method by comparing the estimated fair values of the indefinite-lived intangible assets with the carrying values. The estimates used in the determination of fair value are subjective in nature and involve the use of significant assumptions. These estimates and assumptions include revenue growth rates, terminal growth rate, discount rates and royalty rate. which requires significant management judgment. The assumptions are based on significant inputs not observable in the market and thus represent Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Actual future results may differ from the estimates.

In connection with our annual quantitative impairment test effective as of October 1, 2023, we concluded that our indefinite-lived intangible assets were not impaired. The fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset related to sales trade name exceeded its carrying value by 23.2% as of October 1, 2023. The fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset related to marketing trade name exceeded its carrying value by 6.9% as of October 1, 2023.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, during the fourth quarter of 2023, we determined a triggering event occurred and an impairment assessment was warranted for the sales indefinite-lived trade name due to the deconsolidation of our European joint venture and the planned divestitures of a collection of foodservice businesses. As a result, we recognized non-cash intangible asset impairment charges of $43.5 million related to our indefinite-lived sales trade name during the year ended December 31, 2023, which has been reflected in “Impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived assets” in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2023, we determined a triggering event occurred and an impairment assessment was warranted for the marketing indefinite-lived trade name due to the planned divestitures of a collection of foodservice businesses. The

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fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset related to marketing trade name exceeded its carrying value by 17.0% for the year ended December 31, 2023.

The following table represents a sensitivity analysis on the indefinite-lived sales trade name intangible asset depicting the percent increase in the $43.5 million charge related to the indefinite-lived sales trade name had the fair value been estimated with a 0.1% increase in the discount rate used and a 0.1% decrease in the royalty rate used at December 31, 2023.

Stock-Based Compensation

Performance restricted stock units (“PSUs”) are subject to the achievement of certain performance conditions based on our revenues and Adjusted EBITDA targets in the respective measurement period and the recipient’s continued service to us. The PSUs are scheduled to vest over a three-year period from the date of grant and may vest from 0% to 150% of the number of shares. The number of PSUs earned is adjusted to be proportional to the partial performance between the Threshold Goals, Target Goals and Maximum Goals. The fair value of PSU grants was equal to the closing price of our stock on the date of the applicable grant. Restricted stock units (“RSUs”) are subject to the recipient’s continued service to us. The RSUs are generally scheduled to vest over three years and are subject to the provisions of the RSU agreement under the Advantage Solutions. Inc. 2020 Incentive Award Plan, as amended and restated (the “Plan”).

Equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P.

Topco, our current majority stockholder, has a long-term equity incentive plan that allows for the grant of time-and performance-based profit interests, or Common Series C Units, in Topco to certain of its and its subsidiaries’ directors and employees in exchange for services provided to us. Since we receive the benefit associated with such services the related expense is recorded within our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive (Loss) Income.

We recognized a non-cash compensation gain related to forfeitures of $3.7 million and $2.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Refer to Note 11—Stock Based Compensation and Other Benefit Plans to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for details regarding Topco’s and our equity-based compensation plans.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Refer to Note 1, Organization and Significant Accounting Policies – Recent Accounting Pronouncements, to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.