After much speculation Amazon WILL buy MGM for $8.45 billion. The consumer and streaming giant made an announcement about the proposed merger today and confirmed talks were in place for a multi-billion takeover of the legendary studio. The deal is Amazon’s second-largest acquisition. It paid $13.7 billion for Whole Foods in 2017.
Amazon said it hopes to leverage MGM’s storied filmmaking history and wide-ranging catalog of 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows to help bolster Amazon Studios, its film and TV division.
“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,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”
The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.” said MGM Chairman Kevin Ulrich.
RELATED: Amazon In Talks To Buy MGM For Reported $9Billion Cost
MGM owns the James Bond catalogue, though the actual movie rights are a little more technical I’ve heard. Not to mention several celebrated drama series such as The Handmaidens Tale and Fargo. MGM also owns various reality TV hits such as Shark Tank, and Survivor along with that back catalogue mentioned above. This move, should it be approved by the Government, should see Amazon instantly add value to their Prime streaming service. However, the quoted price here seems a bit high considering MGM doesn’t have many massive IP’s currently popular. At least I am not alone in making this assessment, but then I am no Jeff Bezos.
One would assume that Amazon has plans for some of the unused IP’s stored within MGM’s vault. I don’t think Amazon would pay this fee simply for a massive back catalogue of old movies. Though, maybe I am wrong on that front?
What do you think of the announcement that Amazon will buy MGM? Leave any thoughts you have below as always.
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