Amazon has announced that it would acquire film and TV company MGM for $8.45 billion as this transaction enables the ecommerce company to expand its titles for its OTT platform Amazon Prime.
Established in 1924, MGM is a renowned production and distribution company based in Hollywood, holding a vast library of titles of movie series such as James Bond, Rocky, and The Pink Panther. The film catalogue of this company accounts for more than 4,000 titles.
A statement from Amazon said, “MGM has nearly a century of filmmaking history and complements the work of Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV show programming. Amazon will help preserve MGM’s heritage and catalogue of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works.”
Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos
Mike Hopkins, 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.”
MGM has collectively won more than 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmys.
Kevin Ulrich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MGM, said, “I am very proud that MGM’s Lion, which has long evoked the Golden Age of Hollywood, will continue its storied history….The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.”
The media business is a relatively new segment in the overall scheme of things for Amazon, when it reported a revenue of $108.5 billion in its latest quarter results, which was an annual growth of 44 percent. Earlier, Amazon Founder and Chairman Jeff Bezos highlighted the importance of Prime.
“As Prime Video turns 10, over 175 million Prime members have streamed shows and movies in the past year, and streaming hours are up more than 70 percent year over year,” Jeff Bezos said in the earnings release.
The subscription of Amazon Prime services has been one of the key business drivers for the ecommerce company.
