Fox Closes $22 Billion Roku Deal After DOJ Clearance

Fox Corporation has completed its US$22 billion acquisition of Roku, closing the deal on Friday, November 6, after the US Justice Department wrapped up its antitrust review, trade publication Cynopsis reported. The takeover gives Fox control of a connected TV platform that reaches more than 100 million households, according to reports by Stocktwits and PYMNTS.

The deal, announced in June, closed months ahead of the earlier expected timeline in the first half of 2027, PYMNTS said, citing Variety.

Deal terms

Roku shareholders received US$95.30 in cash and 0.9799 of a Fox Class A share for each Roku share they held, according to Stocktwits and PPC Land. Existing Fox stockholders now own about 74% of the combined company, with former Roku investors holding about 26%.

PPC Land reported that Roku shares stopped trading on Nasdaq on the day the deal closed. It also noted that the per-share terms at closing differed from those announced in June, which were US$96.00 in cash and 0.9693 of a Fox share, and said the closing announcement did not explain the change.

Fox chief executive Lachlan Murdoch said in the company’s statement, as quoted by PPC Land, that the closing “advances the long-term strategy of FOX.” He added that the company would focus on serving audiences and partners while keeping the openness of the Roku platform.

DOJ clearance and commitments

The Justice Department closed its investigation after concluding the acquisition was unlikely to substantially reduce competition, PYMNTS reported. According to Cynopsis, the department’s Antitrust Division said Fox would suffer monetary and reputational harm if it tried to use Roku to hurt rival content providers, and that consumers could easily switch to other connected TV platforms.

PYMNTS said Fox’s commitments include carrying non-Fox programming for at least three years, offering certain data products to third parties on commercially reasonable terms and protecting competitors’ sensitive information. Fox also committed to not favouring its own programming in search results, the report said.

Leadership changes

Roku founder Anthony Wood will join Fox’s board and serve as co-chair of Fox Digital Platforms, which will house Roku alongside Tubi, Fox One and Red Seat Ventures, Cynopsis reported. PYMNTS said Paul Cheesbrough will be the other co-chair and the division’s chief executive.

Mustafa Ozgen will succeed Wood as Roku chief executive and also lead Fox’s ad tech platform AdRise, according to Cynopsis. Roku Media President Charlie Collier and general counsel Chris Handman will not join Fox, while Tubi CEO Anjali Sud is taking a role outside the company, the publication said. Fox declined to comment to Cynopsis.

Cynopsis noted that Fox now owns The Roku Channel and Tubi, which it described as the two most popular free streaming services in the US, and gains access to Roku’s ad technology and first-party data.

What’s next

Fox expects about US$400 million in annual cost savings within two years, PYMNTS and PPC Land reported, and PPC Land said the company expects the deal to add to free cash flow per share by the second full year after closing. The Justice Department said it would keep monitoring competition in the sector and could act again if circumstances change, according to PYMNTS.

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