Walmart acquires Vibe.co for up to $1.4 billion to boost ads

Walmart is betting big on advertising again, and the latest move is a clear sign of where some of the company’s fastest-growing ambitions now sit. The retailer said June 23 it will acquire Vibe.co, a French self-serve connected TV advertising platform, in a deal valued by people familiar with the transaction at up to $1.4 billion. It is Walmart’s largest acquisition in two years and another reminder that the company is putting serious capital behind media, data and streaming as it looks for higher-margin growth.

The deal is aimed at folding Vibe.co into Walmart Connect, Walmart’s commerce media business, so advertisers can buy and measure TV campaigns more easily. Walmart said the platform is designed to make connected TV advertising more accessible and measurable for small and mid-sized businesses, mid-market brands and marketplace sellers, using its commerce audiences and closed-loop measurement to show business impact. The transaction still needs customary closing conditions, including review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

For Walmart, the acquisition extends a strategy that has been building since the 2024 purchase of VIZIO for about $2.3 billion. Walmart completed that acquisition on December 3, 2024, saying it would accelerate Walmart Connect by combining VIZIO’s SmartCast operating system and advertising business with Walmart’s reach. At the 2026 IAB NewFronts, Walmart said it serves about 150 million U.S. customers each week online and in stores, and that streaming now accounts for more than half of all TV viewing time. The company is using that scale to sell advertisers a way to reach shoppers across retail and media in one loop.

The business case is straightforward: Walmart wants more ad revenue and more control over the path from impression to purchase, especially as it competes more aggressively with Amazon in retail media. Ryan Mayward, Walmart Connect U.S. general manager and senior vice president, said the platform would make commerce media “more accessible, more measurable and easier to activate.” Vibe.co co-founder and CEO Arthur Querou said the company was built to let performance and ecommerce marketers run streaming TV more like paid social, quickly and with measurable outcomes.

The deal also says something about internal priorities at Bentonville. Walmart has said newer businesses have helped profits grow faster than sales, and in its Q3 FY25 earnings release it said Walmart U.S. eCommerce sales grew 22%. As Walmart keeps investing across technology, advertising and AI, the groups tied to retail media and measurement look increasingly central to where the company is placing its biggest growth bets.