In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development. 

This week, Fox finalizes its purchase of Tubi, CloudGenix is acquired by Palo Alto Networks and Cornerstone OnDemand gains Saba software.

Fox closes Tubi purchase

Fox Corp has completed the acquisition of streaming service Tubi for $440 million in cash. 

The deal reflects Fox’s pivot from subscription streaming to ad-supported, free streaming as the media giant simultaneously sold its stake in Roku to fund the acquisition.

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) Tubi, which primarily streams over 20,000 non-exclusive licensed TV shows and movies, will operate as an independent subsidiary of Fox Corp. run by the current leadership team.  

Fox will seek opportunities to expand Tubi by leveraging its own national and local news and sports content. With the influx of capital from their new owners, Tubi is poised to compete in the highly competitive ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) market with the likes of Comcast’s Peacock, Disney’s Hulu, and Amazon’s IMBDtv. 

CloudGenix is purchased by Palo Alto Networks

Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks has acquired CloudGenix, a software company specializing in wide area network (WAN) software design, for $420 million. 

Palo Alto Networks plans to integrate CloudGenix’s cloud-managed products with their Prisma Access security service to deliver software solutions that apply to both security and networking. 

The combined platforms will further strengthen Palo Alto Networks comprehensive secure access service edge (SASE) platform. The deal is part of the overall trend in cybersecurity: moving corporate data centers to cloud and SaaS platforms that allow users to access applications from anywhere in the world. 

Cornerstone OnDemand buys Saba Software

Cloud-based software company Cornerstone OnDemand has acquired Saba Software in a transaction valued at approximately $1.295 billion. The deal was originally valued at $1.395 billion prior to current market conditions. 

Saba had previously been a portfolio company of Vector Capital, a leading private equity firm which specializes in transformational investments in established technology businesses. 

The acquisition will consolidate the two enterprise learning management systems providers. The combined company will serve 75 million licensed users and approximately 7,000 customers, bringing in a total recurring revenue of around $818 million. 

In Other News

Here are other deals (or deal cancellations) from this past week:

• Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust company, has completed an acquisition of the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in exchange for rent credits of $307.5 million. 

• U.S.-based investment firm Gordon Brothers announced that it has acquired British lifestyle brand Laura Ashley. 

• Investment research and financial services firm Morningstar, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Sustainalytics for around $60 million. 

• Private equity firm Sycamore Partners announced that it has moved to cancel the $525 million pending acquisition of 55% controlling stake in lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret from L Brands Inc., two months after the deal was agreed on.

• Atlanta-based Asbury Automotive Group has called off its $1 billion transaction to buy Dallas-based Park Place Dealerships citing uncertainties caused by the global pandemic as the reason.