Tag: mgm

This acquisition "is very exciting and offers many opportunities for great stories to be told", said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, in a statement.

This is the second most expensive acquisition in Amazon's history after the $13.7 billion takeover of US supermarkets Whole Foods in 2017.

In addition to more than 4,000 films, including the Agent 007 saga, Robocop, Basic Instinct, Raging Bull and Thelma & Louise, Amazon will be acquiring a vast catalogue of series, including The Handmaid's Tale, Fargo and Vikings.

"The real financial value of this deal is the treasure trove of intellectual property from the entire catalogue that we plan to reinvent and develop with the talented team at MGM," adds Mike Hopkins.

Through this acquisition, the American giant founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos is strengthening its position in content for its Amazon Prime Video streaming service, the mother of all battles in the entertainment world, which is subject to merciless competition between services.

To win subscribers and market share, streaming platforms are forced to invest massively in content, like Netflix, which could spend $17 billion this year, or try to grow through acquisitions.

With the decline in the number of Covid-19 infections and the gradual recovery in activity, Netflix's growth has slowed. It still dominates the sector, with 208 million paying subscribers worldwide at the end of April. Disney's platforms (Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu) had 159 million at the beginning of April.

Although its growth has slowed as economies gradually reopen thanks to a drop in Covid-19 contamination, Netflix dominates the sector, claiming 208 million paying subscribers worldwide at the end of April.

Amazon, whose shares were up 0.75% on the stock market at around 15:30 GMT, said at the end of April that its streaming service had been used by 175 million Prime subscribers over one year.

This agreement "clearly helps Amazon because customers are looking for more content", Dan Rayburn, media analyst for Frost & Sullivan, told AFP.

In addition to content, Amazon is acquiring a legendary Hollywood name with a proven track record in the film industry, he added.

Sport too

The American giant, which is worth over 1.6 trillion dollars on the stock market, has already made some costly acquisitions in recent years, including the television rights to "The Lord of the Rings", the cult fantasy saga by J.R.R. Tolkien, for 250 million dollars. Amazon intends to turn it into a multi-season series.

It has also stepped into the sporting breach, with the purchase of exclusive rights to the NFL in the United States, as well as Wimbledon and the US Open in the United Kingdom. In France, the giant has acquired part of the rights to Roland Garros for this year and the next two years.

The announcement of the purchase of MGM comes against a backdrop of brutal consolidation moves in recent days. In mid-May, telecoms giant AT&T announced the merger of its WarnerMedia subsidiary with Discovery, which offers the HBO MAX and Discovery+ streaming services respectively.

The value of mergers and acquisitions in the media and entertainment sector this year is the highest since 2000, at $232 billion according to data provider Refinitiv, almost seven times the level at this time last year.

This is the latest in a long series of takeovers by Hollywood studios, including Warner Bros by AT&T, Universal by Comcast and Paramount by ViacomCBS.

Like many American film studios, MGM suffered greatly from the Covid-19 pandemic and the prolonged closure of cinemas around the world.

Initially due to hit cinemas in March 2020, James Bond's latest opus, "No Time To Die", has seen its release postponed several times and is finally due to be shown in cinemas from 30 September.