Amazon’s MGM Acquisition Cleared By European Union In Key Approval
deadline.comAmazon has won unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $8.5 billion acquisition of storied U.S. movie studio MGM, the European Commission said Tuesday.It said the deal would not pose competition concerns in Europe.That’s a big hurdle passed for the merger, announced last May.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission must still weigh in and is reportedly on the cusp of a deadline to contest the deal or not to – the latter amounting to a tacit greenlight.“We’re pleased with the Commission’s decision and, with MGM, look forward to providing more choice of quality entertainment for viewers,” an MGM spokesperson said.The e-commerce giant with its massive market cap of $1.4 trillion is buying the century-old studio behind the James Bond and Rocky franchises from investors led by Anchorage Capital, whose founder Kevin Ulrich is chairman of MGM.
The deal is the first in what had been a long-anticipated marriage of deep-pocketed big tech players and Hollywood. MGM’s expansive library of nearly 4,000 films and 17,000 TV shows will recast the 11-year old Prime Video streaming service — a driver of Amazon’s consumer loyalty program, Amazon Prime.The EU had publicly set March 15 as the provisional deadline to weigh in, but the FTC usually stays mum on cases unless it decides to sue.
The org is said to have requested additional information from Amazon after the merger announcement. Once the digital behemoth supplied what was asked for a clock started counting down.A more activist FTC led by new head Lina Khan has taken a tougher stance on antitrust and sued to block deals in other sectors (including Nvidia’s acquisition of Arm from Softbank and Lockheed Martin’s purchase of Aerojet).
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