Financial Gazette – Santiago
Amazon received unconditional approval from the European Union on Tuesday for its plan to buy movie company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM Studios) for $8.45 billion, which will step up its bid to lead the streaming industry.
This is the second largest acquisition Amazon After shelling out $13.7 billion in 2017 for food chain Whole Foods.
From the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition said that the agreement between the two giants does not raise competition problems in the 27 EU countries.
The Commission’s investigation concluded that the transaction, as reported, would not significantly reduce competition in the markets for the production and supply of content, the supply of wholesale television channels and the supply of retail audiovisual services.
Brussels also believes that it will not distort the production and licensing of distribution rights to third-party distributors for the films in order to release them in theaters and provide market services, the community management said in a statement.
The prevalence of streaming services, including newer services such as hbo max and Disney+, put pressure on Amazon for more programming. MGM’s extensive library provides a wealth of material in this regard, not to mention the opportunity to tap the popular James Bond and Rocky franchises for new movies and TV shows.
Also, with retail competitors such as Walmart Inc. By rolling out more sophisticated online stores, Amazon has to work even harder to keep its 200 million subscribers loyal.
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