The streaming and media wars continue with yet another big acquisition: Fox Corporation is acquiring Roku for $22 billion.
The two companies announced the deal before markets opened on Monday morning, with Fox saying it will pay $160 per share in a purchase that will combine cash and Fox stock. The deal is expected to close next year.
Roku is perhaps most widely known for its streaming devices and hardware, but it also runs a streaming channel, The Roku Channel, which has its own slate of original programming.
Fox is the parent company of Fox News, Fox Sports, and other entities spun out of 21st Century Fox when the Walt Disney Company purchased the entertainment studio in 2019.
How have markets reacted to the news?
Shares of both companies declined in early-morning trading on Monday after markets opened.
Roku Inc. (Nasdaq: ROKU) saw its stock price down about 1% just after the bell, while the stock price for Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA) tumbled more than 15%.
This is a contrast to the broader Nasdaq Composite, which was up more than 2% in early trading on Monday.
“It remains to be seen how well the combination of a digitally innovating streaming company will mesh with a media conglomerate rooted in legacy assets,” Ross Benes, senior analyst at Emarketer, said in a statement about the deal. “But the strategy makes sense and it jibes with the continual consolidation that’s occurring in streaming.”
Fox previously acquired Tubi, another streaming platform, in 2020. The Roku acquisition effectively adds more firepower to the company’s streaming capabilities.
Last year, it also acquired Red Seat Ventures, a conservative podcasting company.
Roku’s devices are used by more than 100 million people. In all, the combined company will mix Fox’s sports, news, and other content with Tubi’s and Roku’s platforms, Fox says.
A look at Nielsen data shows that The Roku Channel and Tubi combined account for 5.2% of overall streaming consumption—behind YouTube, Netflix, Disney, and Amazon’s Prime Video.
What the companies are saying
“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,” Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch said in a statement.
Roku’s CEO and founder, Anthony Wood, added that he’s looking forward to what the two companies can do going forward.
“Over the past two decades, we’ve built Roku into the leading TV streaming platform, reaching more than 100 million households globally and reshaping how people discover and enjoy entertainment.”
