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Wal-Mart pins hope on Vudu US retail giant Wal-Mart is acquiring California-based video-on-demand provider Vudu, with a price tag of over US$100m reportedly being put on the deal. Wal-Mart confirmed the purchase today but not the terms of the buy-out, which will see it pick up a six-year-old business that raised more than US$60m to date. Vudu has distribution deals in place with all the major US studios and a host of independent content suppliers. It started out offering a set-top box designed to bring online video to TV but has since shifted its model to one where it is installed in internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, Vudu unveiled deals with companies including Mitsubishi, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba that will see its service embedded in a variety of devices. "Combining Vudu's unique digital technology and service with Wal-Mart's retail expertise and scale will provide customers with unprecedented access to home entertainment options as they migrate to a digital environment," said Wal-Mart vice chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright in a statement. The announcement followed a report in The New York Times that quoted a source close to the deal as saying the price was over US$100m. Best Buy, Amazon, Comcast and EchoStar are also said to have expressed an interest in buying Vudu. Vudu raised US$21m from Greylock Partners and Benchmark capital in the spring of 2007 and by the same time the following year had raised another US$40m. As well as offering a library of 16,000 movies, the company also brings web content from Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and The New York Times to TV. As with other 'connected TV' companies, Vudu is also developing its own Apple-like app store. Jonathan Webdale 23 Feb 2010 © C21 Media 2010 
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