Amazon is expected to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5billion buy of movie studio MGM – giving it the rights to blockbusters franchises, including James Bond
- Amazon is expected to win unconditional EU antitrust approval in an $8.5billion deal to purchase MGM movie studio
- The purchase would mean Amazon would acquire all titles post-May 1986, including James Bond, House of Gucci, Handmaid’s Tale, and Legally Blonde
- The 2,000 titles pre-May 1986 are held by Turner and WarnerMedia
- The deal is scheduled to decided by March 15 and expected to go through
- The deal will boost Amazon’s video subscription service Prime Video and could help them expand into the video game market
Amazon is expected to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5billion purchase of US movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), giving it the rights to blockbuster franchises, like James Bond.
The move, which was announced last May, is set to ramp up competition with streaming rivals Netflix and Disney+ by strengthening Amazon’s video streaming service.
The MGM acquisition would give the world’s largest online retailer rights to James Bond, one of the most lucrative franchises in film history that’s earned nearly $7billion at the box office globally, according to company. MGM also owns the rights to House of Gucci, starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, The Handmaid’s Tale TV series, and Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon.
However, the deal will not include the rights to the studio’s classics, such as Gone with the Wind and the Wizard of Oz. If Amazon acquires the deal, it receive the rights to 4,000 post-May 1986 films and 7,000 shows. The 2,000 titles pre-May 1986 are held by Turner and WarnerMedia.
MGM also licenses content for video games, which could benefit Amazon’s development efforts in that area.
Amazon is expected to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5billion buy of US movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), giving it the rights to blockbuster franchises
The move, which was announced last May, is set to ramp up competition with streaming rivals Netflix and Disney+ by strengthening Amazon’s video streaming service and Amazon would acquire thousands of rights to TV shows and movies
‘The acquisition thesis here is really very simple,’ Founder Jeff Bezos, who no longer has an active role in the company, said in May. ‘MGM has a vast, deep catalogue of much beloved intellectual property. And with the talent at Amazon and the talent at MGM Studio, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century. It will be a lot of fun work and people who love stories will be the big beneficiaries.’
The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by March 15, declined to comment to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Amazon said: ‘Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and we’re working with regulators to respond to requests.’
The Federal Trade Commission is nearing a mid-March deadline to decide on the deal, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Besides Prime Video, Amazon also has a free streaming service called IMDb TV, where Amazon makes money by playing ads during movies and shows.
During Amazon’s first quarter results, the company said 175million Prime members streamed shows last year, and more than 200 million have access to it because they’re signed up for its Prime membership, which gives them faster shipping and other perks.
Households with Prime memberships typically spend $3,000 a year on Amazon, more more than twice what households without the membership spend, according to Morgan Stanley, which is why Amazon wants to invest in Prime.
Brian Yarbrough, a senior analyst at Edward Jones, told The New York Times in May: ‘More and more Prime members are using video more often, spending more hours on there, so I think this is a way to add more content and more talent around movies.
‘This isn’t one studio buying another…If you’re Amazon, the perspective is what’s the potential for Prime membership, what is the potential for advertising.’
Known for its roaring lion logo, MGM is one of the oldest Hollywood studios, founded in 1924 when films were silent.
The heft price tag is a drop of rain in an ocean for Amazon – $1.6trillion behemoth – but companies that kicked the tires on MGM when it was being quietly shopped in recent months were shocked over the price, according to Variety.
They believed the studio was worth around $5billion to $6billion with the assumption of some debt, Variety reported.
The deal would acquire the rights to post-May 1986 productions, including James Bond (pictured), House of Gucci, and Legally Blonde
In comparison, Disney paid less for Star Wars and Marvel in two separate purchases when it bought Lucas Films in 2012 for $4billion and Marvel for $4.05billion in 2018.
Amazon already has its own studio but has had mixed results.
Two of its shows, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ and ‘Fleabag,’ won best comedy series Emmys, but many of its films have failed to click with audiences at the box office.
Regulators around the world have scrutinizing Amazon’s business practices, specifically the way it looks at information from businesses that sell goods on its site and uses it to create its own Amazon-branded products.
Since leaving his active role in the company, Bezos has been busy traveling with his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez. The pair were seen at Nobu Malibu on Tuesday just one day after jetting back to California from Colombia.
The Amazon billionaire, 58, cut a smart figure in a grey patterned shirt and a matching gilet jacket as he took a phone call outside the popular celebrity haunt.
While media personality Sanchez, 52, was a vision in a sleek white jacket, and she wore her brunette locks in a straight fashion across her shoulders.
The couple’s jam-packed week comes after they recently visited Colombia, where they were due to fly back from on Friday, according to reports.
In the South American country, they joined president Ivan Duque Marquez and his wife Maria to visit Chiribiquete National Park, the largest tropical rainforest national park in the world.
The trip saw them pledge to continue the Bezos Earth Fund’s commitment to protecting 30 per cent of the planet’s land and sea by 2030, according to Sanchez’s Instagram.
Elsewhere, the Amazon founder is said to be in negotiations with Pete Davidson for the Saturday Night Live Star to accompany him into space.
AMAZON: FROM ONLINE BOOKSTORE TO SHOPPING BEHEMOTH
Amazon opened its doors on July 16, 1995 as an online bookseller and Bezos proved to be quite the businessman, shipping books to all 50 states and 45 different countries within a month.
By the end of 1996, Amazon have racked up $15.7million in revenue and nearly quadrupled that a year later, bringing in $54million by the end of 1997.
Bezos also saw his one-millionth order in 1997 and by 1998, Amazon would extend its product list to include toys, electronics, and tools.
His motto ‘get big fast’ hasn’t left him as his business – where he no longer has an active, but rather serves as an executive chairman – has acquired many assets, bringing the company to be worth billions.
Here’s how Bezos has extended his company from online bookseller to shopping behemoth:
Amazon Prime
The tried and true love of most Amazon users is the Prime subscription, which retails for $139 a year.
Prime originally launched in 2005 for $79 a year and was marketed off the ‘all-you-can-eat’ free shipping.
‘I am excited to announce Amazon Prime, our first-ever membership program,’ Bezos wrote in an email announcement to users in 2005. ‘[It] provides “all-you-can-eat” express shipping.
‘Amazon Prime takes the effort out of ordering: No minimum purchase and no consolidating orders. Two-day shipping becomes an every day experience rather than an occasional indulgence.’
Amazon Fresh
Now available in most big cities, Amazon Fresh launched in Seattle in 2007.
The service offers Prime members free shipping on orders over $50 and home delivers customers’ groceries.
Kindle
In true nature of a bookseller, Amazon launched Kindle e-readers in 2007.
Four years after the initial launch, Amazon became selling more e-books than it was physical books.
Amazon Studios
Amazon launched its own movie and tv studio in 2010 in Culver City, California.
In 2017, it was revealed the studio spent around $6billion on 1,000 hours of original programming, which has jumped up to around $13billion in 2021.
Prime Video
Prime Video, which originally launched in 2006 as part of the Prime subscriptions.
It later added ‘unlimited, commercial-free instant streaming of 5,000 videos and TV shows’ in 2011.
Prime Air
Prime Air was launched in 2019 and is a drone delivery service. It is limited in service and there are currently only 85 drones.
Whole Foods Market
Amazon struck a deal with Whole Foods Market in 2017. It spent $13billion to buy this 40-year-old supermarket chain.
Users can now order Whole Foods products through Amazon and have it home delivered. It cannot, however, be paired with Amazon Fresh. Although some Whole Foods products are available through Fresh.
Amazon Pharmacy
In the height of the pandemic, Amazon launch it’s own pharmacy in November 2020.
It offers two-day delivery of prescriptions for Prime subscribers and users can access a secure profile through the website.
Source: History.com, Seattle Business Magazine, Pattern
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