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China's LeEco snaps up Vizio for $2 billion

Kimiya Manoochehri, and Jefferson Graham
USA TODAY
LeEco CEO YT Jia, VIZIO CEO William Wang at LeEco and VIZIO Press Conference in Hollywood where it was announced that LeEco had acquired VIZIO for $2 billion

LOS ANGELES -- Chinese tech giant LeEco agreed to snap up California-based Vizio,  a manufacturer of television sets, for $2 billion.

LeEco is best known for making smartphones and has ambitions to get involved in self-driving electric cars as well.

LeEco sees its acquisition of Vizio as a way to move into the U.S. market, part of its expansion around the globe. The Chinese company extended operations to India and Russia earlier this year. It says it is the world's largest Internet-TV access point, now with strong foundations in the two biggest tech markets: China and the U.S.

The companies say that the Vizio hardware and software businesses will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of LeEco, while Vizio's data business, Inscape, will be spin out as a separate, privately owned company.

Here Are All the Vizio 2016 TVs

Vizio CEO William Wang recalled mortgaging his home in 2002 to start Vizio. "I’m excited to see how LeEco’s global reach and resources will elevate Vizio as we continue to bring great technology, innovation and value to our consumers,” he said.

At a press event in Los Angeles, Yueting Jia, founder and CEO of LeEco, said he had been actively seeking Vizio because he sees its as an industry disrupter in consumer electronics, just as he says LeEco has been a disrupter when it come to the Internet. He said it wasn't easy landing Vizio.

"When I first saw William in 2013, I was deeply touched by him. He turned me down for many years. It took three years to court him. It's nice today to see this iceberg finally melt," said Yueting.

Based in Irvine, Calif., south of Los Angeles, Vizio has long done marketing and design in the U.S., with production of its TV sets and sound systems in China and Mexico. Beyond Wang, the companies said the Vizio executive management team would remain in place and continue operations as an independent unit.

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