The purchase of MGM Studios by Amazon should indeed be approved by the European Union (EU), which has until March 15 to render its verdict. This is good news for the e-commerce giant on several counts.
Amazon awaits acquisition approval
In May 2021, Amazon announced the acquisition of MGM Studios, an iconic Hollywood studio founded in 1924, for $8.45 billion. This is the second largest acquisition for the firm founded by Jeff Bezos after that of Whole Foods in 2017 for 13 billion dollars. For it to be official however, it still needs to be approved by regulators.
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), like the European Commission, have until mid-March to approve the transaction, and the US government’s decision largely depends on that within the EU. Good news for Amazon, since the press agency Reuters reports that the European Commission should give its ” unconditional approval to the acquisition of the film studio.
Logically, this decision should positively impact that of the FTC. The EU could either approve the deal, with or without remedies, or decide to open a full antitrust investigation, which in turn could have bought the FTC time to investigate the transaction.
For its part, Amazon says: Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and we are working with regulators to respond to requests “.
In the streaming sector, Amazon Prime Video is still far behind Netflix and Disney+.
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The MGM studio has many cult films in its catalog, including the James Bond franchise, one of the most prolific in the history of cinema which has grossed nearly $7 billion at the global box office. Adding these footage to its offering would allow Amazon Prime Video to further compete with its two main rivals in the streaming business, Netflix and Disney+, but also entice people to subscribe to Amazon Prime, the offering of company fast delivery. This should encourage consumers to shop more regularly on Amazon.
You should also know that MGM Studios licenses content for video games, while Amazon is currently expanding in the sector with its own gaming streaming service called Luna and officially launched in the United States in early March 2022. .