Perion is making a move deeper into physical retail, acquiring in-store media company PRN for up to $12 million as it looks to connect digital advertising with the point where consumers make purchase decisions.
The deal expands Perion’s existing mix of connected TV, digital out-of-home, commerce, social and web capabilities with physical point-of-purchase screens. The company said the acquisition is expected to be accretive from closing and will expand its addressable opportunity within the more than $70 billion U.S. retail media market.
The strategy is focused on North America, where PRN has established retail and healthcare media relationships. Rather than replacing existing digital channels, Perion is adding another layer that can operate at the final stage of the customer journey.
The Store as an Advertising Channel
Physical retail remains a dominant part of commerce. Perion estimates that more than 80% of U.S. retail commerce takes place through physical retail, making stores an important destination for brands seeking to influence consumers close to the moment of purchase.
PRN brings an existing network across warehouse club, big-box, healthcare, consumer electronics and grocery environments. Its agreements include a top warehouse club’s 4K television network across more than 750 locations in North America, a top big-box retailer across more than 4,500 stores, and a leading national healthcare retailer across more than 2,200 stores.
For Perion, those relationships provide access to three advertising categories it identifies as particularly significant: Commerce, consumer packaged goods and Health Care.
The company is also gaining exclusive, multi-year inventory agreements with national-scale retailers. That inventory gives Perion a physical extension of the media infrastructure it has built around digital channels.
Connecting the Last Mile
The acquisition is designed around a relatively straightforward problem for advertisers: consumers do not necessarily make a purchase at the same place where they first encounter an advertisement.
A campaign may begin on connected TV, continue through social media or digital out-of-home, and ultimately reach the consumer inside a store. Perion wants to make that final interaction part of the same advertising strategy.
“Our intent is to leverage the breadth of our channel offering, including CTV and digital out-of-home, so a brand can execute a single campaign from the living room to the shelf,” said Tal Jacobson, CEO of Perion.
Jacobson said the acquisition gives Perion access to a channel immediately before a purchase decision while also creating a way for retailers to monetize their physical environments without giving up control over what appears in their stores.
The company said its combined offering will eventually span programmatic DOOH, commerce, social, in-store retail media, CTV and direct demand relationships within a single execution layer.
Programmatic Comes to the Store
One of the longer-term ambitions behind the acquisition is to bring programmatic execution into in-store retail media.
Perion said it expects to operate within the rules established by individual retailers governing content, frequency and the store experience. That distinction allows retailers to retain control over the advertising environment while potentially giving brands a more familiar way to plan and execute in-store campaigns.
“Marketers want to plan in-store advertising the way they plan every other channel. Perion brings the demand and the execution to make that possible, while retailers keep the same control over what runs in their stores,” said Kevin Carbone, CEO of PRN.
Carbone said joining Perion will allow PRN to provide greater value to its retail and advertising partners by combining its existing in-store footprint with Perion’s demand and execution capabilities.
A Small Acquisition With a Larger Ambition
Financially, the transaction is relatively modest compared with the size of the market Perion is targeting. The company will pay up to $12 million in cash at closing, subject to customary purchase price adjustments, on a cash-free and debt-free basis.
Perion expects PRN to contribute approximately $3 million in Adjusted EBITDA in 2027 before synergies. The acquisition is expected to be accretive from closing and is not expected to materially affect Perion’s full-year 2026 outlook.
The all-cash structure also removes post-closing contingencies, according to Perion, allowing the company to focus on integration and value creation.
PRN will operate as Perion Retail Networks, with the company stating that existing retailer and advertiser relationships will continue without disruption.
For Perion, the acquisition is ultimately less about adding another collection of screens than about completing its view of the advertising journey. By moving from the living room and roadside to the physical store, the company is betting that the final moments before purchase can become an increasingly important part of the media plan.
