FOX moves to acquire Roku in $22 billion deal
The Roku app on a television in Hastings-On-Hudson, New York, US, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Roku Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 27. Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Fox Corporation has announced an agreement to acquire streaming platform Roku in a deal valued at approximately $22 billion.
The transaction combines one of the nation’s largest producers of live news, sports and entertainment programming with a streaming platform that reaches more than 100 million households around the world.
FOX said they are committed to continuing to operate Roku as an "open, partner-friendly platform" as the merger now makes them the third-largest company in U.S. television by share of viewing.
What they're saying:
Fox Corporation Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer Lachlan K. Murdoch released a statement in a press release, Monday morning.
"This is a defining moment for FOX, and a natural extension of the deliberate and focused strategy we have been executing for nearly a decade. In 2019, we reoriented the company around live news and sports. In 2020, we acquired Tubi and under our stewardship it has become one of the most successful businesses in streaming. Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it. This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile. And we are executing this acquisition from a position of financial strength – maintaining our investment grade balance sheet while providing our shareholders with an uninterrupted return of capital program in the form of share buybacks and dividends. Roku pioneered streaming TV and scaled it into a leading CTV platform. Together, we intend to lead its next chapter."
The other side:
Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood will take an ongoing role at the merged company and join FOX’s board. Wood and affiliated entities holding a majority of Roku's voting power have agreed to support the transaction.
The acquisition remains subject to shareholder and regular approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by Fox Corporation. This story was reported from Orlando.