Fox to buy Roku for $22bn

What's happened

Fox Corp has agreed to acquire Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valuing the streaming platform at about $22 billion, or $160 per share. The boards have approved the transaction, which will combine Fox’s live news and sports assets and Tubi with Roku’s 100m-household connected-TV platform; closing is expected in H1 2027.

What's behind the headline?

What this deal creates

• The combined company will merge Fox’s live-news and sports inventory, plus Tubi, with Roku’s connected-TV operating system and ad platform. That will create the number-three TV player in the US by viewing share.

Strategic logic

• Fox is buying direct distribution and first-party data. Owning Roku will give Fox control over content discovery, ad targeting and measurement on devices in more than 100m households.
• The deal will shift Fox’s reliance away from traditional cable carriage fees and toward ad-supported streaming revenue, where Roku already generates the bulk of its income.

Financial and timing risks

• Fox will pay $96 in cash plus 0.97 Fox Class A shares per Roku share and has secured $12bn in bridge financing. The transaction will be funded with new debt and cash, and is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
• Markets are signalling concern: Fox shares have fallen in premarket trading while Roku’s stock traded below the $160 offer price, highlighting investor doubts about integration costs, leverage and regulatory review.

Competitive and regulatory consequences

• The deal will put Fox in stronger competition with Comcast and other platform owners that bind distribution and ad data to subscribers. Regulators will scrutinise the combination of a major content owner with a dominant device-level distribution platform.

What happens next

• Executives have agreed the boards will back the deal; shareholders and regulators will decide next. If approved, Fox will own roughly 73% of the combined company and Roku investors the remainder. Integration will begin immediately and will aim to deliver about $400m in annual cost savings.

How we got here

Roku built a large ad-supported streaming business and reaches more than 100 million households through devices and smart TVs. Fox has been expanding its streaming footprint since buying Tubi in 2020 and launching Fox One last year; the deal will give Fox direct access to Roku’s audience and ad data.

Our analysis

The Guardian reports Fox has agreed to buy Roku for about $22bn in a cash-and-stock deal valuing Roku at $160 per share and giving Fox access to more than 100 million households; Lachlan Murdoch called the merger a “defining moment” for the company (The Guardian, Mon 15 Jun 2026). TechCrunch emphasises Fox’s framing that the deal pairs live sports and news with streaming growth and quotes Roku founder Anthony Wood saying the combination will “accelerate our vision, scale faster and innovate more aggressively” (TechCrunch, Mon 15 Jun 2026). The New York Times notes Anthony Wood will join Fox’s board after closing and highlights Fox’s prior moves — the 2020 Tubi purchase and last year’s Fox One launch — as steps toward reaching streaming customers (New York Times Business, Benjamin Mullin, Mon 15 Jun 2026). Sky News and CNBC underline market reaction and the expected timing: boards have approved the transaction and the companies expect a close in the first half of 2027, while Fox has obtained $12bn in committed bridge financing to back the cash portion (Sky News, Mon 15 Jun 2026; CNBC, Mon 15 Jun 2026). Together the sources show consistent details on price, structure and rationale while varying emphasis: corporate statements stress strategic upside; market reporters flag investor scepticism and regulatory hurdles.

Go deeper

• How will owning Roku change the advertising experience on Fox’s channels and apps?
• What regulatory obstacles will this merger face in the US and abroad?

More on these topics

• Lachlan Murdoch - CEO of Fox Corporation

  Lachlan Keith Murdoch is an Australian–British and American businessman and mass media heir. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, co-chairman of News Corp, executive chairman and CEO of the Fox Corporation, the founder of Australian inves

• Roku - Product line

  Roku is a line of digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. The devices offer access to streaming media content from various online services.

• Fox Corporation - Company

  Fox Corporation is an American media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed as a result of the 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company; the assets that were not acquired by Disney were spun off fro

• Netflix - Production company

  Netflix, Inc. is an American technology and media services provider and production company headquartered in Los Gatos, California. Netflix was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California.

• Tubi - Corporation

  Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation offering online streaming from a library of films and television series for free.

• Fox News - Television channel

  The Fox News Channel, commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S.

• Rupert Murdoch - American media mogul

  Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KCSG is an Australian-born American media mogul who founded News Corp. He is the son of Keith Murdoch, one time senior executive of Australia's Herald & Weekly Times publishing company.