NEW YORK — Fox Corporation said Friday it has completed its acquisition of Roku, putting Roku’s connected TV platform, which reaches more than 100 million households worldwide, under the same roof as Fox’s live sports, news and local programming.
The company announced the closing in a statement Friday. With Roku, Tubi and FOX One together, Fox said it is now one of the leading streaming businesses in the United States.
Roku’s platform carries thousands of apps and channels across the streaming TV ecosystem. Fox said the deal accelerates its digital strategy and shifts more of its business toward streaming and connected TV, which it called high-growth areas.
The company expects about $400 million in run-rate cost synergies within two years of the closing, with possible revenue gains on top of that. It expects the deal to add to free cash flow per share by the second full year after closing.
Lachlan K. Murdoch, Fox’s executive chair and chief executive, said the company’s first job now is serving viewers and partners while keeping the Roku platform open.
“Our top priority for the combined company is to continue to relentlessly serve audiences and partners, while reinforcing the openness and choice that is the essence of the Roku platform.”
Fox said Roku will keep its role as an open platform for the wider streaming industry, giving viewers a choice of services and giving content partners a place to reach them.
Under the merger agreement, Roku stockholders receive $95.30 in cash and 0.9799 shares of Fox Class A common stock for each Roku share they held at closing, covering both Class A and Class B shares.
After the deal, Fox stockholders own about 74% of the combined company’s stock, and former Roku stockholders own about 26%. Roku shares stopped trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.
Roku’s founder, Anthony Wood, joins the Fox board of directors. He will also serve as co-chair of FOX Digital Platforms, a new division covering Roku, Tubi, FOX One, Red Seat Ventures and Fox’s other digital products, alongside Paul Cheesbrough, who becomes the division’s co-chair and chief executive.
Wood said Roku’s mission does not change with the sale. “We started Roku more than two decades ago to give people a better way to watch TV, and that mission doesn’t change today,” he said. “What does change is our reach and resources.”
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