Walmart agrees to acquire TV maker Vizio for $2.3B, or $11.50/share, to boost its ad business via Vizio's SmartCast OS, which lets users stream content with ads
- Walmart is buying TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion in cash. — The move is a bid to boost the big-box retailer's high-margin ad business.
CNBCJacob Pramuk
Context & Ripple Effects
Vizio had already positioned SmartCast as an advertising and streaming growth engine in its 2021 IPO pitch. The agreement follows reported talks between Walmart and Vizio and makes the television operating system central to Walmart's effort to expand Walmart Connect beyond its existing retail surfaces.
First-order effects
Vizio shareholders are offered $11.50 per share in Walmart's $2.3 billion cash deal, subject to completion.
If the transaction closes, Walmart gains SmartCast's ad-supported streaming environment and a direct connected-TV channel for its advertising business.
Second-order effects
Walmart Connect can package television viewing alongside Walmart's existing advertiser relationships, raising the value of its ad offering to brands seeking retail-linked reach.
The deal intensifies pressure on retail-media rivals, including Amazon, to pair commerce data with more owned video inventory or comparable connected-TV partnerships.
Third-order effects
The transaction points to retail media becoming less dependent on retailer websites and apps as merchants seek owned media surfaces across the consumer's viewing and shopping journey.
If such integrations prove useful to advertisers, smart-TV platforms may increasingly be valued for their advertising and commerce capabilities rather than hardware sales alone.
The trend: Retailers are using acquisitions and platform ownership to turn commerce audiences into cross-screen advertising businesses.
If you don't own the means of delivery for your goods, and/or Ads, you are always obliged to intermediaries. Expect to see more of these kinds of deals. The media industry should pay attention.
During the early years of flat screen TVs, I thought Vizio was the one to beat — their quality was impeccable and the consistency between each TV was remarkable. But the past seven or eight years, they've been lapped by LG and Samsung and maybe even TCL. Interesting deal.
Over the past year, it has become clear that Walmart is taking its advertising business, Walmart Connect, very seriously (advertising was mentioned 47 times over calendar 2023's four earnings calls). Today it bought @vizio for $2.3 billion ⚡️ Implications of Walmart buying...
Everyone myopically focused on the downside to $ROKU from $WMT acquiring $VZIO... not considering potential and very real offsets. “And then you have to consider... If Walmart acquires Vizio, then will Amazon still sell Vizio TVs? What about Target? Will Target want to sell...
Wal-mart acquires a huge history of IP addresses and viewing behavior, along with a Connected TV ads business and actual televisions presumably. “Smart Interactivity reportedly sends this information to Vizio and connects it to individual customers' IP addresses, which are...
Walmart's advertising revenue last year was reportedly $2.7 billion, about the same as this weird social media site. The entire US newspaper industry combined? $9.8 billion, more than half of it print.
Deal is confirmed. @walmart buying @vizio for $2.3B —Deal gives Walmart critical access to Vizio's operating system data to help fuel its growth into Connected TV ads —Walmart's ad biz soon expected to be more profitable than its brick & mortar grocery biz https://corporate.walma…
Walmart to buy TV maker Vizio for $2.3B [$11.50 per share] in cash: $WMT Chief Revenue Officer: “We believe VIZIO's customer-centric operating system provides great viewing experiences at attractive price points” $VZIO: +15.2% Pre-Market $WMT: +2% [image]