MGM Holdings

History

2021

Amazon bought Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $8.45 billion

On May 27, 2021, Amazon officially announced the purchase of the Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for $8.45 billion. Thanks to this transaction, the Internet retailer and the largest cloud provider intends to strengthen the direction of television content.

Under the terms of the agreement, Amazon will receive the right to show MGM films on its OTT platform Prime Video - more than 4 thousand in total, as well as television shows (more than 17 thousand by the end of May 2021). According to Amazon Vice President Mike Hopkins, the company plans to "develop and rethink, along with the talented MGM team," the filmotek, which includes a film franchise about agent 007 James Bond.

Amazon promised to preserve the legacy of MGM and the company's film catalog, giving consumers simplified access to these pictures. Presumably, part of the content of the studio will soon appear in the online cinema Prime Video, owned by the technology giant.

Amazon bought MGM for $8.45 billion

In 2020, Amazon spent $11 billion to create, acquire or license audio and video content for Prime subscribers against $7.8 billion in 2019. The number of subscribers to the service is 200 million people around the world.

MGM will continue to work on yet-to-be-completed film projects, such as Ridley Scott's Gucci House, which has not yet received a rental title for Paul Thomas Anderson and an adaptation of the novel Project Rejoice, Maria from the author of Martian Andy Weyer.

Prior to the deal with Amazon, MGM's studio was owned by private investment companies, including Anchorage Capital Group, Highland Capital Management and Solus Alternative Asset Management.

According to the Financial Times, it was shareholders of the Anchorage Capital fund, which owns the debts of the COVID-19 pandemic-affected MGM film studio, who insisted on its sale.^[1]

Amazon is close to concluding a deal to acquire MGM Studios

In May 2021, it became known that Amazon was close to concluding a deal to acquire MGM Studios, co-owner of the James Bond franchise and other television and film series, for an amount of 8.5 to 9 billion dollars.

This will be Amazon's largest acquisition since the purchase of Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion.

Amazon is interested in acquiring more television and film content for its Prime Video service, as it competes with Netflix, Disney and other streaming video services.

MGM, which is a private company, has been looking for a buyer for several years. Its owners include Anchorage Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Davidson, Kempner Capital Management, Solus Alternative Asset Management and Owl Creek Investments - funds that gained control of the studio after its bankruptcy in 2010.

1934: Court in the Yusupov lawsuit over the film "Rasputin and the Empress"

Felix Yusupov, one of the participants in the murder of Rasputin, together with his wife Irina, 1934, London. The photo was taken during the trial of the Yusupov lawsuit against the MGM film studio in the High Court of London. In 1932, the film "Rasputin and the Empress" was released, which claimed that the wife of Prince Yusupov was Rasputin's mistress.

1928

Sound synchronous shooting of a roaring lion for the screensaver of the film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1928.

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