Amazon completed its $8.5 billion purchase of MGM on Thursday, March 17, with the U.S. window for a legal challenge having run out and Europe’s antitrust regulator already satisfied. The agreement was first announced last May.
Two days before the close, the European Commission cleared the deal without conditions. In its review it found that the overlaps between the two businesses were “limited” and said MGM’s content “cannot be considered as must-have.”
Washington was murkier. The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon had set a mid-March deadline for the Federal Trade Commission to decide, and that the company could go ahead if no challenge came in time. As of Thursday morning the FTC had made no public move either way. A person familiar with the matter told Variety that the agency never formally approves deals. It challenges them or it does not, and it can do so before or after closing. Amazon declined to comment on the FTC.
What Amazon gets
MGM, founded in 1924, brings more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmy Awards. Amazon says the studio will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios.
The catalog includes the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky movies, along with “12 Angry Men,” “Basic Instinct,” “Creed,” “Legally Blonde,” “Moonstruck,” “Poltergeist,” “Raging Bull,” “Robocop,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Stargate,” “Thelma & Louise” and “Tomb Raider.” On television, MGM has produced “Fargo,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Vikings.”
When the deal was announced, Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said Amazon believes “the real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of [intellectual property] in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team.”
Who runs what
The companies have not said what leadership will look like. Jennifer Salke heads Amazon Studios, and industry chatter has put her forward as a possible chief of a combined studio. An Amazon representative said MGM’s management team now joins the group led by Hopkins. That includes film chief Michael De Luca and television group head Mark Burnett.
“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,” Hopkins said in a statement. MGM chief operating officer Chris Brearton said the studio was excited to join “the Prime Video family.”
