After over a week of speculation, Amazon has announced it will acquire Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM Studios) for $8.45 billion to boost its streaming content.
After Sony’s content distribution deal with Netflix and the merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia, consolidation has become the name of the game. Now, Jeff Bezos is making one final major move before he exits the CEO position on July 5th after more than two decades leading the company.
Amazon Studios has rapidly expanded its content spend in recent years to boost Prime Video, Amazon’s streaming platform. But, despite a few hits, it has meaningfully lagged the competition. Now, MGM’s catalog of over 5,200 titles including iconic franchises like James Bond and Rocky will provide a major boost to the platform’s offerings.
Amazon reportedly offered at least $2 billion more than the next bidder for the studio, demonstrating how competitive the space has become. It also shows that acquisitions may become increasingly difficult for major media companies when big tech companies with huge cash piles can drive up prices.