Tech giant Amazon have closed a deal to purchase MGM for a massive $8.45 billion.
MGM is of course a well-known Hollywood studio that owns the rights to franchises such as James Bond, Rocky, and films including The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Legally Blonde, North By Northwest, and many more.
This will likely beef up the offerings on Amazon Prime Video, which is already a huge service in itself, though the details on what will be added are currently unknown.
In addition to owning the rights to numerous films, Amazon will also be able to create new content based on these properties.
Company spokesmen mentioned this as a major reason for the deal, “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”
It is also another historic deal for Amazon, which has not been afraid to make major acquisitions in the past. One such deal came in 2017 when it acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.
MGM also has its own television studio and does produce its own shows including Fargo and A Handmaid’s Tale. In addition, the company has its own cable network, Epix along with a dedicated app.
The deal marks the end of a strenuous period for MGM, which had been for sale for many months with a number of rumored possible buyers.
Another aspect of the deal worth noting is that the extensive library of MGM may not be exclusively available on Amazon Prime Video. Amazon have yet to reveal how much of the content will appear on its platform right away.
Since MGM already has a deal in place with the ViacomCBS owned Paramount Plus, there may be specific titles that are available there rather than on Amazon Prime Video.
A number of other MGM titles are currently available on HBO Max and it is unclear as to if that will change anytime soon with this recent acquisition.
This is just the latest consolidation in a sector that is growing quickly in size and popularity. MGM was bound to be bought out sooner than later and the acquisition seems to make sense for a major player in the space like Amazon.
We shall see how these other services are affected, but there’s definitely going to be a shockwave throughout the streaming sector in the months to come.
Like any major deal this big, the deal is not 100% official until it is approved by regulators and other organizations. Stay tuned for more on that moving forward.
