Fox Corporation, whose Southern California operations include the Fox Studio Lot in Century City and Fox Sports facilities in Los Angeles, announced Monday it has agreed to acquire streaming platform Roku for roughly $22 billion.
The acquisition combines Fox’s portfolio of live sports, news and entertainment programming with Roku’s connected-TV platform and streaming operating system, positioning the combined company as one of the largest players in U.S. television by viewing share.
Fox said the acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and approval by Roku shareholders.
“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 Corp. Executive Chair Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement.
Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood will join Fox’s board of directors and remain with the company in an ongoing role following the acquisition. Wood said the deal represents “a terrific outcome” for shareholders and will allow Roku to accelerate its growth with the support and resources of a larger media company.
Roku shareholders will receive cash and Fox Corporation stock valued at $160 per share under the terms of the agreement.
The acquisition is the latest step in Fox’s expansion into streaming. In 2020, the company acquired ad-supported streaming service Tubi for $440 million. Fox also launched its direct-to-consumer streaming platform, Fox One, last year.
Roku was among the first companies to bring streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube to television screens through connected devices and smart TVs. The company’s business is largely driven by advertising and subscription revenue generated through its platform.