Amazon has officially closed the deal in $8.45 billion for MGM Studios. The company has marked its largest move yet into the entertainment business and accelerating its streaming aspirations. The transaction is Amazon’s second-largest in history, behind the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017.
In an interview, Mike Hopkins, the senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios said, “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalogue 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.” He also added.
Also, MGM Chairman Kevin Ulrich said: “The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.”
The agreement highlights Amazon’s readiness to invest heavily in order to stay competitive in the congested streaming business. Amazon, Netflix, Disney, and other video streaming services have been devoting billions to licencing material and generating original programmes. This is also helping them increase their subscriber bases.
At the same time, media behemoths have continued to consolidate in order to get more scale in order to compete with Amazon and Netflix. Discovery’s $43 billion mergers with WarnerMedia, announced last week following separation from AT&T, is the latest example of this.