Ukraine Gate – New York – March 18, 2022- Amazon announced Thursday that the tech giant has finalized an $8.5 billion deal to acquire MGM, the home of the Bond series and one of the most iconic film studios in Hollywood history.
The move aims to bolster the company’s position in the entertainment world while giving streaming service Amazon Prime Video more content to fill its already vast library. This should help Amazon challenge competitors like Netflix (NFLX) and Disney+ in the highly competitive streaming market.
The deal, first announced in May, brings MGM and more than 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows under the Amazon umbrella. None of it is bigger than the James Bond franchise, which has amassed billions of dollars over the past 60 years. The latest cute British spy movie, No Time to Die, has grossed more than $770 million globally since its October release.
“MGM has a legacy of nearly a century of producing exceptional entertainment, and we share their commitment to delivering an extensive roster of original movies and TV shows to a global audience,” said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. statment.
MGM also has other notable franchises, including “Rocky,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “RoboCop,” “Legally Blonde,” and Epix TV Network.
The deal closed without objection from the Federal Trade Commission.
The Information reported in July that the regulator may fight the deal. However, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Amazon “confirmed to the Federal Trade Commission that it provided all information requested by antitrust investigators” and set a deadline for the agency to file any legal challenge by mid-March.
The European Union’s antitrust commission also approved the deal, saying Amazon’s purchase of MGM “would not raise competition concerns.”
In addition to its slate of content, another incentive for Amazon (AMZN) to acquire MGM is to help it keep pace with a media landscape that is seeing growing merger activity, fueled by the ever-evolving broadcast market.
For example, CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia is merging with Discovery in a deal announced last year.
This merger, which brings together content from several major providers, including Warner Bros. and Discovery Channel, CNN, HBO, TNT and HGTV, received approval from the Department of Justice last month.
