Fox is acquiring Roku for $22 billion, with an offer of $160 per share in a combination of cash and shares
Synergies estimated at 400 million. Morgan S. is providing 12 billion in funding
Key points
- The new era of streaming
Major deal in the US media sector: Fox Corporation, owned by the Murdoch family, has reached an agreement to acquire Roku, the streaming platform and smart TV group, based on a valuation of $22 billion.
Strategic shift
The deal represents the largest acquisition ever made by Fox and marks a strategic turning point for the group led by Lachlan Murdoch. The objective is clear: to dominate the new television value chain, which is becoming less and less tied to traditional cable subscriptions (in this case in the US) and increasingly centred on advertising-supported digital platforms.
Fox brings with it one of the strongest portfolios of live content on the US market, comprising sport and news, as well as Tubi, the free streaming service acquired in 2021 for $400 million. Roku, on the other hand, brings to the table the technology platform through which over 100 million households access streaming services every day.
Content integration and distribution
The result is vertical integration that brings together content, distribution, data and advertising sales. A combination that aims to strengthen the group’s competitive position against giants such as Amazon and Netflix, but also to secure a more solid footing at a time when Paramount is seeing all the pieces fall into place for the acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, in a deal that could bring Paramount+ and HBO Max together.
The market, after all, is changing rapidly. According to Antenna, ad-supported streaming plans now account for almost 50% of all premium subscriptions to video-on-demand services in the United States, compared with 39% just two years ago. Advertising is thus once again becoming the real driving force behind the new television.
