WASHINGTON – Amazon has closed its $8.45 billion deal to buy the storied MGM studios, the online giant said, boosting its streaming ambitions with a catalog including the James Bond and Rocky film franchises.
Amazon’s dominance in online retailing has drawn anti-monopoly scrutiny, but this buyout won approval from EU authorities days ago while American regulators have not blocked the agreement originally announced in May.
The deal bolsters Amazon Prime Video with some 4,000 films and 17,000 television episodes as it faces off with the likes of Netflix and Disney in a booming market.
“Amazon and MGM announced that MGM has joined Prime Video and Amazon Studios,” the companies said in a joint statement according to AFP.
The European Commission, which rules on competition issues in the EU, said in a statement Tuesday that the proposed transaction would raise “no competition concerns” and “cleared the case unconditionally.”
According to reports, the US Federal Trade Commission faced a mid-March deadline of its own for making a decision on whether to challenge the takeover.
The FTC declined to comment on the deal, but noted that in general the commission does not approve transactions and may challenge them at any time — if it determines they violate the law.
The commission also announced this summer a practice of sending warning letters to the parties in cases where it could not fully investigate proposed deals in time.
“These letters alert merging parties that their transactions remain under investigation, and warn that consummation occurs at their own risk,” the commission said, declining to say if one of those letters was sent to Amazon or MGM.
In the deal for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, which has been through a series of ownership changes and bankruptcy in recent years, Amazon acquires an iconic Hollywood name.
In addition to the James Bond franchise, MGM owns the rights to film productions including “Rocky,” “Legally Blonde” and “Tomb Raider,” plus television shows such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.”
