ACN appears to be collapsing outside of the US
Back in late 2022 ACN abruptly suspended new distributor recruitment across Europe.
No explanation was given, and to this day we still don’t know why it happened.
Now, following several key developments, it appears ACN is in a state of collapse outside the US.
First up we have Flash Mobile, and from their website;
Flash Mobile is the first social mobile network in Mexico, where people can capitalize on all the growth that is happening in mobile and social media.
Flash Mobile is a brand that is powered by ACN, our parent company.
Although there are still references to ACN on Flash Mobile’s website, all references to Flash Mobile on ACN’s website have been recently removed.
This coincides with ACN quietly selling off Flash Mobile to Diri on January 24th.
Diri … announces its expansion to Colombia and Peru with the acquisition of Flash Mobile LATAM.
The acquisition of Flash Mobile was made with ACN (All Communication Networker), the world’s largest direct sales telecommunications company, which, as part of the transaction, becomes an investor in Diri Inc.
While ACN as a company stands to profit from Diri, its distributors have been cut off from a revenue source.
Next up we have ACN selling off its South Korean business operations to Neora. This was announced on January 25th;
Neora, LLC … is excited to announce the acquisition of ACN Korea, a prominent player in Korea’s direct sales sector.
he integration process will see both companies coming together under the Neora brand.
Again money in the pocket for ACN, but not too sure what the sale means for South Korean distributors.
Finally, as of January 29th, we have a definitive answer on ACN’s business operations in Europe going forward. And it’s more bad news for distributors.
As of late last month, ACN appears to have sold its European business operations to Zinzino.
Zinzino … has entered into a strategic agreement in Europe to partner with North American ACN, a direct seller of telecommunications, energy, and essential services for homes and businesses, which has decided to wind down its direct selling operations in Europe.
Explaining to its distributors why it was abandoning them, ACN blamed COVID-19 and “the competitive landscape”.
We all experienced an unprecedented global event, COVID-19, that drastically altered businesses worldwide and had a profound effect on oru business and our industry as a whole.
In addition, over the last four years, the competitive landscape for marketing services throughout Europe has dramatically changed.
Many services in the telecommunications industry have become commoditized and the energy business has been very volatile.
Prior to these challenges, ACN was in global growth mode and opened its 27th country, attempted to expand energy services in Europe, and had plans to launch new markets.
Unfortunately, we are faced with making a difficult decision due to the negative impacts throughout the European market.
After careful consideration we have decided that we are no longer able to meet our high standards for the IBOs, thus we have decided to change our business model in the European market.
We have been working with our industry contacts to find an opportunity for the IBOs of Europe to join another company.
After discussions with many companies, we decided that the best home for our IBOs is with Zinzino.
ACN is no longer accepting IBO agreements in Europe.
Existing ACN distributors will still be able to sell services to customers but this will be under an “adjusted compensation plan” (read: we’re going to pay you less till you leave).
Zinzino is a nutritional supplement MLM company that doesn’t really align with ACN’s offering. I’m sure the financial side of things worked out well for ACN corporate though.
With global operations in the toilet, I guess the question is how much longer will ACN be around for in the US?
Clearly the company has been in talks with other MLM companies outside of the US. It follows that there are discussions going on within the US too.
As a whole, ACN looks pretty much dead.
SimilarWeb tracked just ~63,000 visits to ACN’s websites in December 2023. The US, as the top source of traffic, made up less than half of that traffic (44% or ~27,700 monthly visits).
Given recent developments, I’d be surprised if ACN as we know it survived the year.
Two questions:
Any news of other MLMs in EU or UK having troubles or closing? Body Shop was acquired and then closed direct selling in the UK. Also, the UK DSA had a pretty dismal outlook moving into 2024.
Any sense if the case against Trump has had a ripple effect on ACN?
Thanks.
Other than draining funds through legal fees, don’t think the ACN propose class-action was much of a factor.
I’ve been following ACN since 2008 and I thought they are one of the very few MLMs that would last a very long time.
They were never the same after COVID hit. I bet lots of people wanted to make money in crypto instead of building a pyramid.