Walmart closes $2.3 billion Vizio deal

It’s no coincidence that less than a month after Amazon Prime Video made its advertising tier standard for its subscribers in January, Amazon Prime Video announced a deal to buy television maker Vizio, adding to its own foray into attracting advertising dollars for to promote networked television. Now, after a months-long regulatory wait, that $2.3 billion purchase closed on Tuesday.

As for the business case, it makes the Doug McMillon-led Walmart a bigger player in the advertising world, which is increasingly being reshaped by Amazon. “Margins on televisions and hardware are generally pretty low these days,” Walmart CFO John David Rainey said at a Bank of America investor event in June. “A lot of the money made there is in software, and we want to take advantage of that.”

Vizio and the data from its 19 million accounts will help Walmart gain a foothold in a battleground where Roku, Samsung, Apple TV and, yes, Amazon (with its Fire TV) compete. Walmart says its Walmart Connect retail media business already grew 26 percent in the third quarter.

“Vizio offers great products at great prices that customers love. They have always put the customer at the center of their business – and that is at the core of Walmart’s values ​​and the omnichannel experiences we are excited to introduce,” said Seth Dallaire, Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer of Walmart US. “Vizio has also expertly transformed their business over time, such as building and quickly scaling a profitable advertising business. The combination with Walmart Connect will be powerful and allow us to invest even further in our business on behalf of our customers.”

“Since founding Vizio, our mission has been to deliver incredible value, great technology and award-winning innovation,” added William Wang, CEO and founder of Vizio, who will now report to Dallaire. “Today, with Walmart’s tremendous amount of resources, we will continue to advance this mission around the best home entertainment experience.”