Guidance Solutions

Canaccord Genuity Advises E-Commerce Agency Guidance on its Sale to OneMagnify

Strategic Acquisition Expands the Combined Companies’ Digital Experience & E-commerce Capabilities

Canaccord Genuity has advised Guidance, a premier e-commerce agency specializing in enterprise-level digital commerce, to OneMagnify, a leader in advanced analytics, customer insights, and AI-powered marketing solutions. OneMagnify is a portfolio company of private equity firm Crestview Partners. 

With more than three decades of success, Guidance has built a reputation as a leader in e-commerce strategy, design, and technology. The agency builds highly customized e-commerce websites and applications for global brands, innovative retailers, manufacturers, and distributors in both B2C and B2B using enterprise platforms from Adobe Commerce, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, Optimizely, and Salesforce Commerce. With industry leading practices in commerce strategy, mobile optimization, CX, website development, systems integration, and analytics, flagship companies have relied on Guidance's expertise to facilitate more than $50 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV).
 
Brands such as Foot Locker, Fitbit, Benefit Cosmetics, Drybar, Belkin, and many others have engaged Guidance to build hundreds of world-class omni-channel websites and applications that accelerate growth and provide differentiated digital customer experiences. The commerce solutions the company delivers have been widely recognized with awards from the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, the Association of Marketing & Communications Professionals, and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, which bestows the prestigious Webby Awards.

OneMagnify helps the world's leading brands create optimal customer experiences through digital transformation, driving personalization at scale through data-driven, AI-enhanced, and technology-enabled marketing solutions. Its 50 years of creative brand-building experience and deep industry vertical expertise effectively magnifies brands across digital channels, offering measurable results and setting its clients apart from competitors. With more than 700 marketing, creative, technology, analytics, and AI experts, OneMagnify executes digital activation strategies with best-in-class technology platforms. Founded in 1967, the company is headquartered in Detroit with offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Louisville, Kentucky; Wilmington, Delaware; Charlotte, North Carolina, Cologne, Germany; and Chennai, India. 

The strategic acquisition of Guidance strengthens OneMagnify’s ability to provide comprehensive, data-driven digital solutions by integrating best-in-class e-commerce expertise through Guidance's long-standing partnerships with top e-commerce technology providers, including Shopify, Optimizely, Adobe, and Salesforce. Guidance’s expertise in building high-performance digital commerce solutions, combined with OneMagnify’s focus on delivering digital transformation solutions, will create a powerful end-to-end offering for businesses looking to thrive in the digital economy.
 
Founded in 2004, Crestview is a value-oriented private equity firm focused on the middle market. The firm is based in New York and manages funds with approximately $10 billion of aggregate capital commitments. The firm is led by a group of partners that have complementary experience and distinguished backgrounds in private equity, finance, operations, and management. Crestview has senior investment professionals focused on sourcing and managing investments in each of the specialty areas of the firm: industrials, media, and financial services.