BENTONVILLE, AR - Walmart announced the completion of the company’s acquisition of VIZIO. The closing of the deal follows the expiration of the waiting period under federal regulations. Under the terms of the agreement, Walmart acquired VIZIO for $11.50 per share in cash, equating to a fully diluted equity value of approximately $2.3 billion.
“VIZIO offers great products at great prices that customers love. They’ve always put customers at the center of their business—and that’s core to Walmart’s values and the omnichannel experiences we’re excited to roll out,” said Seth Dallaire, Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer, Walmart U.S. “VIZIO has also expertly changed their business over time, like building and quickly scaling a profitable advertising business. Pairing it with Walmart Connect will be impactful and allow us to invest in our business even further on behalf of our customers.”
The acquisition of VIZIO and its SmartCast Operating System allows Walmart to serve its customers in new ways to enhance their shopping journeys, a press release stated. It will also bring to market new and differentiated ways for advertisers to meaningfully connect with customers at scale and boost product discovery, helping brands achieve greater impact from their advertising investments with Walmart Connect—the company’s retail media business in the United States.
Since its founding in 2002, VIZIO’s mission has been to deliver immersive entertainment and innovative connected home devices to consumers at great value. In recent years, VIZIO’s growing device ecosystem and its smart TV operating system, SmartCast, have amassed over 19 million active accounts, growing approximately 400 percent since 2018. VIZIO has built this customer-centric platform on its devices enabling users to stream content for free by watching ads. Building on this foundation, VIZIO created an advertising business that has continued to grow while enabling marketers to reach consumers at scale.
“Since the inception of VIZIO, our mission has been to provide incredible value, great technology, and award-winning innovation,” said William Wang, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of VIZIO. “Today, with the tremendous number of resources from Walmart, we will continue to further accelerate that mission around the best home entertainment experience.”
Walmart and VIZIO will continue to operate separately for the foreseeable future. William Wang will continue to lead VIZIO as CEO, reporting to Dallaire.
How will this tactical deal further impact Walmart's retail media strategy? Stay tuned for more industry acquisitions.
