New York, June 16, 2026, 05:02 (EDT)
- Fox Class A fell 16.8% to $54.76 after the Roku deal was announced.
- Fox plans to acquire Roku in a deal that values the streaming company at roughly $22 billion. Fox will pay $160 per share, using both cash and stock.
- The next thing for the deal is the SEC proxy and prospectus filing. Investors will be watching the financing, pro forma figures, and any risks laid out in the deal.
Fox Corporation stock skidded after the company said it will buy Roku. Fox execs called it a streaming deal, but investors dumped the stock. Fox Class A (FOXA) slid 16.8% and finished at $54.76, losing $11.09. Class B (FOX) lost 15.2% and closed at $49.96. Fox lost billions in market cap with a buyout that’s about as big as the company itself.
Fox is putting up $96 in cash and 0.9693 Fox Class A shares per Roku share, valuing the deal at $160 a share. Roku’s enterprise value, counting debt and equity, comes in around $22 billion. Fox plans to merge its Tubi, sports, news, and entertainment businesses with Roku’s connected-TV assets, including The Roku Channel and data operations. The move would push Fox’s streaming footprint to over 100 million homes, according to the company. “A defining moment for FOX,” CEO Lachlan Murdoch said. Fox is targeting a close in the first half of 2027, with the deal subject to shareholder and regulatory sign-off. Fox Corp Investor
Fox stock dropped after the company said it will take on $8.3 billion in new debt and issue 152 million new Class A shares for the deal. The new debt lifts net leverage to 2.8 times after closing, the company said, so Fox will have more debt for every dollar of earnings. That could weigh if earnings drop. Reuters said Fox shares slid almost 17% early, most likely on concerns over dilution. “We tend to be skeptical that this deal will generate value for Fox shareholders,” TD Cowen’s Doug Creutz said. Reuters
Fox bulls keep betting there’s more upside as Fox moves deeper into digital and pay-TV keeps fading. The Roku deal gives Fox better ad targeting, a straightforward path to connected TVs, and brings it closer to its audience. The company says it will cut costs by about $400 million a year, seeing free cash flow per share go up in the second year after closing. Free cash flow counts what’s left after costs; accretive means that number rises for each share. Fox Corp Investor “The bigger play here is advertising revenue,” Forrester’s Mike Proulx told AP, saying Fox will get stronger tools to control viewing and chase ad money. AP News
Fox wants to raise cash and tap more debt to buy a platform, but so far investors are skeptical about media tie-ups linking content with distribution. Fox still has to compete with Roku, which runs apps from its competitors. Distribution also still depends on Comcast and YouTube TV. “We’re partners right now with YouTube, YouTube TV and Comcast, and that doesn’t change,” Murdoch told investors on the call. Some shareholders are waiting to see if those partnerships last after the deal closes. Reuters
Fox shares trade at about 14.4 times earnings after the latest fall, but the stock still doesn’t look cheap. Roku’s ad unit might help Fox’s streaming business, though the deal means dilution, more leverage, regulatory work, and a slow path to closing. The stock stays under pressure. Investors are watching for Fox’s S-4 and the joint proxy/prospectus, which the companies said are on the way to the SEC. That filing will give the first full snapshot of the merged company’s numbers, deal terms, and risk factors ahead of the shareholder vote.
