18 MAY 2021

AMAZON IS IN TALKS TO BUY MGM IN ORDER TO BOLSTER ITS STREAMING OFFER

Amazon is in talks to buy MGM in a deal that could be valued at between US$7 billion and US$10 billion, several sources reported in the last hours.

18 MAY 2021

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Amazon is in talks to buy MGM in a deal that could be valued at between US$7 billion and US$10 billion, several sources reported in the last hours. Apparently, the negotiation would be being handled by Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Amazon Studios and Prime Video, directly with Kevin Ulrich, Board Chairman at MGM, whose Anchorage Capital is a major MGM shareholder, Variety reported. At the moment, no source within Amazon or MGM has commented on the deal.

It was long rumored that Amazon wanted to buy a big entertainment property to bolster its streaming video service, Amazon Prime Video. Acquiring one of Hollywood's most famous and long-lived studios would give the tech giant's SVOD access to a vast back catalogue of iconic content.

Amazon currently has more than 200 million Prime members worldwide, and Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, recently told investors that 175 million of those streamed Prime Video content in the past year. It seems clear that the company wants to turn Prime Video into an even bigger habit for customers worldwide, and a quick way to do that would be to stir MGM’s extensive library of titles into the mix.

MGM claims to own one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and TV content. Its 4.000 film titles include the “James Bond,” “Hobbit,” “Rocky/Creed,” “RoboCop” and “Pink Panther” franchises, as well as movies like “The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Magnificent Seven” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.

Regarding television, MGM’s line-up includes approximately 17.000 episodes of programming, including “Stargate SG-1,” “Stargate Atlantis,” “Stargate Universe,” “Vikings,” “Fargo,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Get Shorty,” “Condor,” “Fame,” “American Gladiators,” “Teen Wolf,” and “In the Heat of the Night”. It also has some unscripted shows such as “The Voice,” “Survivor,” “Shark Tank,” “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” and “The Hills”.