Fox's $22 Billion Acquisition of Roku: Combined Entity to Become Third-Largest U.S. TV Company
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Fox is buying streaming platform Roku at $160 per share in a cash-and-stock deal valued at roughly $22 billion — the merger will create America's third-largest TV company by viewership, a landmark bet by legacy television on connected TV's future.
How is Fox paying for this?
Each Roku share receives $96 in cash plus 0.9693 Fox Class A shares, with the stock portion valued at $64 per share.
The cash comes from new debt and Fox's own reserves. Morgan Stanley has committed a fully underwritten $12 billion bridge loan.
Fox expects pro forma net leverage of roughly 2.8× at closing. The deal still needs shareholder and regulatory approval, with completion targeted for first half of 2027.
$160 a share — did Roku shareholders get a good deal?
$160 represents an 11.4% premium to Roku's Friday close — but Roku had already surged 20% on Friday on takeover speculation.
This means → measured from the pre-rumor price, the effective premium is far larger; the market had already priced in part of the deal.
Post-announcement, Roku rose just 1.48% in pre-market. Fox Class A (FOXA) fell 13.4% and Class B (FOX) fell 8.4% — investors are worried Fox is overpaying and that integration carries real risk.
Why does Fox want Roku so badly?
Fox owns NFL, MLB, and NASCAR live-sports rights plus Fox News, but lacks a digital distribution channel to reach viewers directly.
Roku's connected-TV (CTV) platform — in plain terms = the operating system and content gateway on smart TVs — reaches more than 100 million streaming households worldwide.
Put simply = Fox has content without a pipe; Roku has the pipe without exclusive content. Combined, they can compete head-on with Disney and Netflix.
Who controls the merged company? Will Roku stay open?
After closing, existing Fox shareholders will hold roughly 73% of the combined company; Roku shareholders will hold about 27%.
Roku founder Anthony Wood will stay on and join the Fox board. Wood and parties holding a majority of Roku's voting power have signed support agreements.
Both sides committed to operating Roku as an open platform — users will still access Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and thousands of other apps.
Where does the money come back from?
Fox expects roughly $400 million in annualized cost synergies and says the deal will be accretive to free cash flow per share by its second full fiscal year after closing.
Last year Roku's platform business generated 87.5% of total revenue — about $4.1 billion. Digital advertising was the single largest driver, pulling in $613 million in one quarter alone, up 27% year-over-year.
This means → what Fox is really buying is Roku's ad-monetization engine. Live sports married to precision digital advertising is the core bet behind the entire deal.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.