Walmart Stores Inc., and Jet.com announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Walmart to acquire Jet for $3.3 billion, including $300 million in Walmart shares to be paid over time.
The acquisition will build upon the foundation that is already in place to serve customers across the Walmart app, site and stores and position the company to even faster ecommerce growth in the future by expanding customer reach and adding new capabilities.
[Related: Why Jet.com Is Kind of a Big Deal for Walmart]
“We’re looking for ways to lower prices, broaden our assortment and offer the simplest, easiest shopping experience because that’s what our customers want,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Stores, Inc.
McMillon said Walmart believes the acquisition of Jet accelerates Walmart’s progress across these priorities, especially ecommerce growth. He also said the seamless shopping experience Walmart is pursuing will happen faster, enabling the Jet brand to be even more successful in a shorter period of time.
Jet.com was founded by CEO Marc Lore, with co-founders Mike Hanrahan and Nate Faust. The company has a growing customer base among urban and millennial customers with more than 400,000 new shoppers added monthly and an average of 25,000 daily processed orders and more.
“We started Jet with the vision of creating a new shopping experience,” said Lore. “Today I couldn’t be more excited that we will be joining with Walmart to help fuel the realization of that vision. The combination of Walmart’s retail expertise, purchasing scale, sourcing capabilities, distribution footprint, and digital assets – together with the team, technology and business we have built here at Jet – will allow us to deliver more value to our customers.”
Walmart and Jet will maintain their distinct brands, with Walmart.com focusing on delivering its “Everyday Low Price” strategy and Jet providing a unique and differentiated customer experience with curated assortments.
Both Walmart and Jet will continue to develop new technology solutions and products aimed at offering consumers a faster discount shopping experience.