(Washington) The legendary Hollywood studio MGM has officially joined Amazon’s studios and video platform, the e-commerce giant announced on Thursday, which has paid 8.45 billion US (10.7 billion CAN) to better arm yourself against competition in the streaming industry.
Updated yesterday at 3:06 p.m.
“With more than 4,000 movies, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmy Awards, the historic, nearly century-old studio will complement the work of Prime Video and Amazon Studios to provide customers with a variety of entertainment choices. “says a press release.
Amazon announced in May 2021 the acquisition of MGM. The Seattle group thus recovers a catalog which includes, among other things, the james bond and rockybut also Thesilenceofthelambs Where Basic Instinct.
It is the second most expensive acquisition in Amazon’s history after that of American supermarkets Whole Foods for 13.7 billion US in 2017.
Brussels announced on Tuesday that it had unconditionally authorized this acquisition, considering that the operation posed “no competition problem” in Europe.
Unions worried
The transaction is, however, disputed in the United States. Worried about Amazon’s growing power over the subscription video streaming (SVOD) industry, unions are trying to stop it, backed by political figures.
The Strategic Organizing Center, a federation which claims to represent nearly four million employees, notably called on the American competition authority, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to oppose it.
Amazon will control about 56,000 titles after this operation, far ahead of Netflix, which would have just under 20,000 titles, according to the FTC.
“The FTC does not comment on specific transactions,” responded a spokeswoman for the agency in a statement sent to AFP.
“We reiterate, however, that the Commission is not an authority that approves transactions and that it is able to challenge an agreement at any time if it determines that it breaks the law,” she said. added.
The FTC also recalled that it had been sending warning letters since last summer for mergers or acquisitions that it had not had time to examine within the framework provided by law, in order to prevent the parties involved that they were still under investigation.
The regulator declined to confirm whether it had sent such mail to Amazon and MGM.
Founded in April 1924 by movie theater owner Marcus Loew, MGM has become one of Hollywood’s biggest studios with a host of stars including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor.
It has experienced many financial setbacks since the 1970s, passing through many hands before declaring bankruptcy in 2010 and then restructuring.
Prime Video is Amazon’s streaming platform, included in the subscription to the e-commerce service which notably allows users to be delivered free of charge and faster.
In April, Prime reported having more than 175 million subscribers.