Situation:

Advanced Marketing Services (AMS) was a >$500 million provider of customized supply chain and inventory management services primarily to membership warehouse clubs. AMS was one of the largest wholesale distributors of books, leveraging its relationships with all major book publishers to provide general interest books and other printed media to membership warehouse clubs.

The Company also packaged/published specialty titles not otherwise available from third party publishers for sale through membership warehouse clubs. The Company offered product selection advice, vendor managed inventory (VMI) services, and specialized merchandising services.

Ameridan’s Role:

A leading private equity firm retained Ameridan to provide market and customer diligence. The engagement focused on assessing:

• The quality and uniqueness of the Company’s capabilities relative to competitors;
• Depth of current customer relationships and customer support post reorganization; and
• The medium term revenue outlook based on extant customer’s purchase expectations.