European Commission approves Amazon’s $8.45bn takeover of MGM

MGM’s catalogue includes The Handmaid’s Tale

Amazon’s US$8.45bn takeover of MGM has passed antitrust muster in Europe, with the European Commission (EC) granting unconditional approval to the deal on Tuesday.

The EC, the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, enforcing laws and overseeing administrative operations, concluded that the transaction “would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area.”

The EC said it examined several key areas during its investigation, including whether there were “horizontal overlaps” between the business activities of Amazon and MGM. Ultimately, the organisation said the overlaps “are limited” and that the parties are “primarily active in different parts of the [audio-visual] content value chain.”

Elsewhere, among its reasons for approving the deal, the EC said that MGM’s “upstream activities as a producer and licensor of [audio-visual] content are limited compared to other market players’ activities” and that “MGM’s content cannot be considered as must-have.”

It also said the “addition of MGM’s content into Amazon’s Prime Video offer would not have a significant impact on Amazon’s position as provider of marketplace services.”

While the European piece of the antitrust puzzle has now been resolved, the deal is still pending approval in the US. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to make a decision shortly on whether or not it will challenge the move. If the FTC decides not to, the transaction is expected to close soon after.

The deal, revealed last May, would see Amazon acquire MGM’s library of 4,000 film titles, including the James Bond franchise, and 17,000 television series. On the TV side, MGM’s catalogue includes The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo and Vikings, while its film library includes 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, Moonstruck, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise and Tomb Raider.