Amazon announces it has agreed to purchase MGM for $8.75 billion

Amazon is announcing that it has agreed to acquire MGM’s (Metro Goldwyn Mayer) entire backlog of content dating back almost a century. It’s noted that MGM has over 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of television shows and with it, Amazon hopes to improve its current on-demand video offerings.

Amazon has heavily invested into its own Amazon Studios to create original shows and films exclusive for Prime video and this acquisition will position the platform to compete with Disney+ and Netflix on a larger scale. Amazon believes that MGM’s catalog will complement Amazon Studios well.

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. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.” – Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios

MGM’s films and shows have

collectively won more than 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmys. Films included in the deal are the James Bond series, Legally Blonde, Poltergeist, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Tomb Raider, and Creed. TV shows include Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Vikings.

This announcement is only the beginning of the entire acquisition process performed by US anti-trust regulators that could regularly take years to complete. Amazon currently includes Prime Video to regular Prime members, but could this acquisition be a precursor to a new pricing structure for Prime Video?

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