A major acquisition appears to be in the making for Amazon, the giant that began as an online bookstore and has evolved into one of the top suppliers of just about everything. The Information first reported the news that Amazon was talking about acquiring MGM Holdings, a company with an extensive library of film and television including 4,000 film titles. This follows news from December via Variety that MGM was looking for a buyer, and, as of this writing, neither Amazon nor MGM have confirmed whether a deal is in place or is close to being secured.
Reports suggest that Mike Hopkins, who serves as Senior VP of Amazon Studios, is working directly with MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich on ironing out details, and that the final price tag may be between $7 billion and $10 billion. MGM Holdings’ numbers are up for 2021, with reported revenue of $403.3 million and net income of $29.3 million. Though Amazon does program a good deal of film and television content, it accounts for a minimal percentage of the company’s overall spend, tallying up to $11 billion in 2020, a forty-percent increase from the previous year.
Among the content MGM owns are a number of successful franchises, including James Bond, the Hobbit, Rocky/Creed, RoboCop and Pink Panther. Its TV library is even more expansive, counting around 17,000 episodes, with fan favorites like multiple Stargate series, Vikings, Fargo, and The Handmaid’s Tale. There are also unscripted series like The Voice, Survivor, Shark Tank, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
If this purchase goes through, it would cement Amazon as a continuingly firm competitor to Netflix, which last month was exploring an expansion into gaming that would make its reach even bigger. Just a few days ago, we reported on Amazon Studios planning to spend $465 million on its upcoming The Lord of the Rings TV series, indicating a willingness to shell out astonishing amounts in order to create the popular programming that audiences are looking to find on their streaming services.
