Fox to buy streaming pioneer Roku in a US$22 billion deal

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Fox Corp. has agreed to buy the streaming pioneer Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately US$22 billion, including debt.

Roku will continue to be run as an open, partner-friendly platform, the companies said Monday, and there appears to be no immediate changes that customers will see. Fox and Roku said that the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing.

Media reports had surfaced on Friday that Roku was looking at its strategic options, including a possible sale. Speculation was rampant as to which companies might be interested in an acquisition. Aside from Fox, names being tossed about as potential buyers included Netflix, Amazon, Comcast and Disney.

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The deal will give Fox access to more than 100 million global households, along with the Roku channel and its first-party data. Fox oversees a massive sports, news and entertainment network, as well as Tubi, which it acquired in 2020.

Roku founder Anthony Wood had initially worked within Netflix in the early 2000s as that company attempted to make the seismic shift from renting DVDs, to streaming.

Roku was spun off by Netflix, however, and the company released its first set-top box in 2008.

Wood, who is Roku’s chairman and CEO, said his motivation in pursuing the technology was his desire to record and play his favorite show, “Star Trek.”

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement that combining the businesses will bring together Fox’s live news and sports content with a streaming platform with large viewership. It will also give Fox more exposure to advertising and streaming subscriptions.

“The combination with FOX is an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate our vision, scale faster and innovate more aggressively for viewers, partners and advertisers,” Wood said in prepared remarks.

Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester, said in an emailed statement that advertising revenue is a critical component of the deal.

“The bigger play here is advertising revenue, something all the major streamers are now jockeying for,” he said. ”This deal accelerates Fox into that shift with built-in audience scale. With 2026 shaping up as a defining year of streaming consolidation, the market shift is that streaming is no longer just about quality content slates. It’s about controlling the full stack. If this deal closes, Fox will control more of what viewers watch, how they discover it, and how it gets monetized.”

Wood will have an ongoing role at the company and will join the Fox board of directors after the transaction closes.

Murdoch said during a conference call that the combined company will be better positioned for the next decade of video than either company would’ve been alone.

“We are confident this is the right transaction, at the right moment, for all the right reasons,” he said.

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Fox will pay US$96 in cash and 0.9693 shares of its Class A common stock for each Roku Class A and Class B share outstanding. The transaction is valued at US$160 per Roku share.

Existing Fox shareholders are expected to own approximately 73 per cent of the combined company and Roku shareholders will own about 27 per cent, once the deal closes.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year. It still needs approval from Fox and Roku shareholders and also regulatory approval.

Fox’s shares tumbled 15 per cent on Monday and Roku declined nearly two per cent.

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Michelle Chapman, The Associated Press