company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile. And we are executing this acquisition from a position of financial strength - maintaining our investment-grade balance sheet while providing our shareholders with an uninterrupted return of capital program in the form of share buybacks and dividends. Roku pioneered streaming TV and scaled it into a leading connected TV (CTV) platform. Together, we intend to lead its next chapter. 

Anthony Wood, founder, chairman and CEO of Roku, said that his team has over the past two decades built Roku into  the leading TV streaming platform, reaching more than 100 million households globally and reshaping how people discover and enjoy entertainment.  He also called the Fox deal  an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate our vision, scale faster, and innovate more aggressively for viewers, partners, and advertisers  at  a significant premium to Roku shareholders, while also providing them with the opportunity to participate in the compelling future upside of the combined company. 

The companies highlighted several strategic benefits of the big deal. One is increased scale and reach, with the firms noting that together, they will  encompass premium live content, broad distribution, and significant audience reach across linear and streaming. 

Another benefit they pointed to is an expansion in  high-growth verticals.  Namely, the deal  positions Fox across the full video ecosystem and provides a wider entry into the high-growth segment of connected TV, particularly advertising and streaming subscriptions,  according to the deal announcement.

It also opens up routes to  a more powerful streaming platform,  bringing together Fox's  premium content and advertising capabilities with Roku's consumer interface, home screen, platform technology and direct viewer relationships to enhance content discovery, deepen engagement and create a more compelling streaming experience for consumers and content partners. 

Last, but not least, Fox touted the deal's benefits to the  long-term growth profile.  It  advances Fox's business mix toward high-growth streaming and connected TV verticals and maintains a balanced mix across advertising and distribution businesses, while strengthening the combined company's long-term growth and financial profile,  all while maintaining Fox's  disciplined capital allocation approach. 

The Roku deal is in line with Murdoch's talk about possible acquisitions due to the company's healthy balance sheet.

Just on Friday, LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield cited Fox as a potential acquirer of Roku.  Given how tied Fox is to the legacy TV ecosystem, a Roku acquisition would enable Fox to meaningfully reposition its narrative with investors toward a streaming future that began with its Tubi acquisition,  he explained, adding that it was  worth noting that Fox sold its 6 million shares of Roku at $58 back in 2020 to help finance the acquisition of Tubi. In turn, it would definitely be ironic if Fox bought Roku now.