European Union Clear Amazon’s Purchase of MGM

The big news in the T.V and film industry is that Amazon’s purchase of MGM for the giant sum of $8.5 billion has been approved by the European Union. According to the European Commission, the deal will not pose any competition concerns in Europe.

The deal has been on the cards since last May, and with the acquisition being such a gigantic and prominent deal, there were a lot of astute details that needed to be ironed out, which is the reason it has only been given the green light now. Although, it isn’t quite confirmed yet because the U.S. FTC (Federal Trade Commission) still has to put forth any concerns they might have about the purchase.

Nevertheless, a spokesperson from Amazon has commented on the latest part of the deal, “We’re pleased with the Commission’s decision and, with MGM, look forward to providing more choice of quality entertainment for viewers everywhere.”

This is sounding like the end of an era though, MGM has been a staple in the film industry for a century now, and has been the driving force behind epic franchises such as James Bond and Rocky, along with countless other cinema classics. But, when a tech giant like Amazon comes knocking with a market cap of $1.4 trillion, it can be difficult to say no to them. MGM’s expansive library of nearly 4,000 films and 17,000 T.V. shows will now be available on the Amazon Prime streaming service as part of the deal, which sees everything coming under the Amazon umbrella.

March 15^th was the deadline that the EU gave themselves as they weighed in on the situation, with the FTC quietly looking in on the deal from the background. Even with the year-long wait, the deal was never in doubt though and as soon as Amazon supplied what was asked of them, it was only a matter of time before everything fell into place.

Amazon’s purchase of MGM has not all been straightforward though because thirty-four groups from the Writers Guild of America West to the Public Citizens association appealed to the FTC to block this merger. The letter that was put forward to officials in August last year read something like this, “It is not simply a one-off deal for streaming content; it is the latest move in Amazon’s overarching strategy to create numerous interconnected points of dominance over business and consumers”. Amazon is slowly taking over the world it seems – step by step – but that’s for another day.

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