Amazon has announced that it has acquired Hollywood movie and television studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer, MGM for $8.5 million. The purchase happened after Amazon certified to the Federal Trade Commission that it had provided all the information requested by the “antitrust investigators” reviewing the deal.
MGM is the studio responsible for hit movies such as Rocky and James Bond but hasn’t won a Grammy for best picture since 1991.
According to Reuters, Amazon made a statement saying that it would welcome all MGM employees to the company and work with the studio’s leadership, indicating there would not be layoffs.
Forbes Magazine reports that MGM shareholders have lobbied Amazon to treat MGM like a stand-alone label under the Amazon umbrella as MGM film division since last year has been making moves to improve their moribund movie studio by buying the rights of movies from high profile movie makers.
On its plans for MGM, Amazon has said very little, only stating that they purchased the company because of its library, and also in order to be able to remake its old titles as TV shows and movies.
What they are saying
Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios said, “MGM has a nearly century-long legacy of producing exceptional entertainment, and we share their commitment to delivering a broad slate of original films and television shows to a global audience.
“We welcome MGM employees, creators, and talent to Prime Video and Amazon Studios, and we look forward to working together to create even more opportunities to deliver quality storytelling to our customers.”
Chris Brearton, chief operating officer of MGM said, “We are excited for MGM and its bounty of iconic brands, legendary films and television series, and our incredible team and creative partners to join the Prime Video family.
“MGM has been responsible for the creation of some of the most well-known and critically acclaimed films and television series of the past century. We look forward to continuing that tradition as we head into this next chapter, coming together with the great team at Prime Video and Amazon Studios to provide audiences with the very best in entertainment for years to come.”
What this means
- This purchase by Amazon means that Amazon would be investing more into the movie production industry and into Hollywood and regardless of what strategies the company employs, this is a decision that would greatly affect the valuation of Amazon.
- It already owns Amazon studios, which is arguably the biggest movie streaming site after Netflix and a studio purchase means that we would see more of Amazon in Hollywood productions.
- Whether or not this is a good business move would be determined by the next couple of years but Amazon is not a company known to fail. This purchase may just be what Amazon needs to win the Oscars and Jeff Bezos is not a man who likes to lose money.
