Amazon and MGM deal is finally official. Amazon has confirmed that the company is acquiring MGM Studios for a huge $8.45 billion. This big deal gives Amazon a vast back-catalog of titles and several franchises including James Bond, Rocky, and more.
The deal is giving Amazon over 4,000 films and 17,000 television shows. This will surely help Amazon to compete well against Netflix and other OTT platforms. MGM will continue to work as planned.
“Amazon will help preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works. Through this acquisition, Amazon would empower MGM to continue to do what they do best: great storytelling,” said Amazon in a statement.
Amazon is spending a huge sum on video content. It spent earl $11 billion on video and music content last year. It was up for $7.8 billion spent in 2019. This is the reason Amazon Prime membership is adding users. Amazon now has 200 million prime members globally who enjoy Prime Video and other offers of the membership. MGM content will make Amazon’s TV and film library even more robust.
MGM (originally known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) was founded back in 1924 and recorded huge success with amazing films. The company saw several ups and down in all these years. It also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 and emerged from bankruptcy later that year. MGM was looking for a potential buyer since 2020.
This is the 2nd largest acquisition in Amazon’s history. It acquired Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. Amazon and MGM deal will be subject to regulatory approval. So it will take a few months for the deal to be finalized.
