Fox Buys Roku
Fox Corporation agrees to acquire Roku for $22 billion, targeting streaming growth
Anonymous
Key Points
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Fox CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch described the acquisition as a “defining moment” and said Fox intends to run Roku “as an ‘open, partner-friendly platform.’”
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Roku’s scale is central to Fox’s pitch: Fox said Roku provides an operating system for smart TVs and that it recently reached “over 100 million streaming households.”
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The deal terms include a per-share price of $160: Fox will pay $96 in cash and 0.9693 shares of Fox Class A stock for each Roku share, and Roku Class A stock will be delisted from Nasdaq upon closing. Anthony Wood (and related trusts/entities with at least a majority of Roku voting power) also entered a voting and support agreement backing the transaction.
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In the market, the announcement was followed by a sharp move in shares and renewed deal momentum: one report said Fox shares dropped 17% while Roku stock fell about 0.7%, and that “the boards of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.”
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Fox appears to be positioning the strategy as keeping its streaming assets distinct rather than immediately combining them: one analysis argued Fox “doesn't seem interested in folding its streaming assets into a single service,” with Tubi focused on on-demand viewing and the Roku Channel oriented toward live channels plus ad/subscription revenue.
Fox Corporation has agreed to buy Roku in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $22 billion, the company announced on June 15, 2026. The price works out to $160 per Roku share — $96 in cash plus 0.9693 shares of Fox Class A stock — according to Fox Corporation.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch called it a "defining moment" for the company. The deal gives Fox control of a streaming platform used by more than 100 million households. The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, and it is expected to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approval and shareholder votes.
Fox Bets $22 Billion on Owning the Streaming Gateway
Fox shareholders will own about 73% of the combined company. Roku shareholders will get the remaining 27%, Fox Corporation confirmed. To fund the deal, Fox secured a $12 billion bridge loan from Morgan Stanley. The combined company is expected to carry a net debt load of about 2.8 times its earnings.
Murdoch framed the deal as the next step in a long-running strategy. He said Fox wants to bring its live news and sports content together with the "preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it," according to The Guardian. He added that Fox plans to run Roku as an "open, partner-friendly platform" — meaning rivals like Netflix and Disney+ would still be available on Roku devices.
Fox Stock Drops 17% as Investors Weigh the Risk
Markets did not celebrate the news. Fox shares fell roughly 15–17% on the day of the announcement, The Washington Post reported. Investors worried about the high cost of the deal and the new debt load. Roku stock slipped about 0.7%.
Some analysts warned that Fox is stepping into a tough business. Making and selling streaming hardware is expensive. Roku holds about 44% of connected TV viewing hours in the U.S., but margins in that business are thin, according to research from Motley Fool. Still, one analyst at Emarketer said the deal could more than double Fox's annual connected TV ad revenue by tapping Roku's viewer data, CBS News reported.
Tubi and the Roku Channel: Kept Apart or Eventually Merged?
Fox already owns Tubi, the free streaming service it bought in 2020 for $440 million. Together, Tubi and the Roku Channel account for 5.2% of total U.S. streaming time — more than Amazon Prime Video — according to The Current. That combined reach is a big part of Fox's pitch to advertisers.
Murdoch said Tubi and the Roku Channel will stay separate. He pointed to just one-third audience overlap between the two services, NewscastStudio reported. But some analysts are skeptical. Critics argue Fox may eventually fold both into a single app to cut costs, which could shrink the amount of free content available to viewers, according to CBS News.
Roku Founder Backs the Deal, Regulators Still Must Sign Off
Roku founder Anthony Wood will join Fox's board after the deal closes. He called the merger an "extraordinary opportunity to accelerate our vision" and to "innovate more aggressively" for advertisers, according to PBS News. Wood and related entities control a majority of Roku's voting power and have already signed a support agreement backing the transaction.
The deal still faces a regulatory review. The DOJ recently approved the $110 billion Paramount-Skydance merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, setting a precedent for big media consolidation, CBS News reported. But regulators will likely scrutinize whether Fox could favor its own content — Fox News, Fox Sports, Tubi — over rivals on the Roku platform.
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