Fox Corporation has agreed to acquire Roku for approximately $22 billion, merging one of the largest content libraries in television with the leading streaming operating system in a deal that reshapes the streaming landscape (The Verge; CNBC; Fox press release).
Roku shareholders will receive $160 per share, composed of $96 in cash and 0.9693 shares of Fox Class A common stock. Morgan Stanley has committed $12 billion in bridge financing. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, after which Roku shareholders will hold approximately 27 percent of the combined company. Roku founder Anthony Wood will join Fox’s board of directors.
Fox brings premium live sports (NFL, MLB, the World Cup), Fox News, and its Tubi streaming service. Roku brings an operating system installed on over 100 million households worldwide, plus The Roku Channel. Together, the combined ad-supported streaming entity becomes the third-largest television viewing platform in the United States by audience, behind only YouTube and Netflix.
The deal is vertical integration in the classic media mold: content owner buys distribution pipe. Fox ensures its programming has a privileged position on the most widely used streaming OS in America. Roku gets access to Fox’s content library and sports rights, strengthening its ad-supported channel against competitors.
Fox expects roughly $400 million in annual cost synergies and says the deal will be accretive to free cash flow by its second full year after close.
Regulatory Questions
The acquisition will face review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and by regulators in other markets. The central antitrust question is whether a Fox-owned Roku can remain a neutral platform for competing streaming services. Roku’s OS currently hosts Netflix, Disney+, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, and virtually every other major streaming app. If Fox uses the platform to favor its own content or Tubi, regulators may impose conditions.
Fox has said it is committed to keeping Roku’s platform open.
Roku’s Journey
Roku went public in 2017 at $29 per share and peaked at $490 during the pandemic streaming boom in 2021. It generated $4.1 billion in revenue in 2024. But slowing ad sales, rising content costs, and intensifying competition from smart TV operating systems pushed its share price into the $80 to $100 range before the acquisition was announced.
The $22 billion price tag makes this the largest streaming merger since Disney acquired Fox’s entertainment assets for $71 billion in 2019. That earlier deal was between the same two companies, but the assets moving the other direction.
Sources: The Verge (June 15, 2026); CNBC (June 15, 2026); Fox Corp press release (June 2026); Bloomberg (June 2026)