The multinational acquired more than four thousand films from the studios founded in the 1920s. This is the second largest purchase that Amazon has made in its history.
This Thursday and after months since the negotiations began, the multinational Amazon bought film and television production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), one of eight historical studios from the golden age of cinema. In total, the company led by Jeff Bezos managed to obtain the lion’s producer for 6,500 million dollars.
The closing of the sale was achieved after Amazon confirmed to the Federal Trade Commission that it submitted all the required documentation to antitrust investigators.
Altogether, according to Wall Street JournalAmazon delivered three million documents over the last eight months as part of the process.
However, the Federal Trade Commission could still challenge the acquisitionin case of having a majority of votes of the five members that are part of it.
For its part, the European Commission approved the transaction last Monday and assured that “it does not cause competition concerns”.
The MGM films that are going to Amazon
With the purchase of MGM, Amazon will have 4 thousand new titles in its portfolioincluding the iconic saga of James Bondmovie classics like The Wizard of Oz and hits like The silence of the inocents, Legally Blonde or the trilogy of The Hobbit.
Other Hollywood classics from the studio are Rocky, Tomb Raider, Vikings, Robocop, la Pantera Rosa, The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, Thelma & Louise and many more.
The veteran film studio, founded in 1924, will become part of Amazon’s Prime Video unit and will be overseen by Senior Vice President Mike Hopkins, who underlined MGM’s “nearly century-long legacy of exceptional entertainment production” in a statement.
Amazon thus seeks to strengthen its Prime Video entertainment platform, which compete with other giants such as Netflix, Disney + or HBO Max.
Is about the second largest acquisition in Amazon historytrailing only the $13.7 billion purchase of supermarket chain Whole Foods in 2017.
Amazon is being closely scrutinized by US authorities for fear that may violate the antitrust laws of the country. This is due to the large size of the company and the power it accumulates in certain sectors.