Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA) has agreed to acquire Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $22 billion, a transaction that would reshape the U.S. streaming landscape by combining Fox’s live sports and news empire with the connected TV platform used by more than 100 million households worldwide.
Under the terms of the agreement, Fox will pay $96 in cash and 0.9693 shares of its Class A common stock for each Roku share, working out to $160 per share. Once the deal closes, existing Fox shareholders are expected to hold roughly 73 per cent of the combined company, with Roku shareholders retaining about 27 per cent.
On a pro forma basis, the combined entity would rank as the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing, spanning broadcast, cable and streaming. Fox brings its live sports rights portfolio, which includes the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, the Big Ten and the FIFA World Cup, alongside FOX News and free ad-supported streamer Tubi. Roku contributes its dominant connected TV platform, The Roku Channel and a trove of first-party data covering a significant portion of U.S. broadband households.
Roku’s advertising business has been a major growth driver, with platform revenue reaching $613 million in the first quarter alone, up 27 per cent year-over-year. That momentum is a key part of the strategic rationale for Fox, which gains a stronger foothold in connected TV advertising and streaming subscriptions through the acquisition.
Roku founder, chairman and CEO Anthony Wood first worked within Netflix during its early pivot from DVD rentals to streaming before Roku was spun off and released its first set-top box in 2008. Wood will join Fox’s board of directors once the transaction closes.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch framed the deal as the logical next step in a strategy the company has been building since it reoriented around live news and sports in 2019 and acquired Tubi in 2020.
The companies have committed to keeping Roku running as an open, partner-friendly platform, a signal intended to reassure the streaming services that distribute through Roku’s ecosystem.
The transaction requires approval from shareholders of both companies as well as regulators, and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
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