Amazon Eyeing MGM In $9B Deal As It Looks To Make A Run At Rival Netflix

Amazon (AMZN) is looking to take a serious run at acquiring livestreaming rival Netflix with a possible $9 billion deal that would bring MGM under its umbrella.

According to sources for Variety, negotiations for a deal on the entertainment company are under way with Senior Vice President of Amazon Studios and Prime Video Mike Hopkins and MGM Board Chairman Kevin Ulrich in direct talks.

Variety said that the deal is expected to be in the $9 billion range after The Information reported Monday that Amazon was in talks about a potential acquisition of MGM that could range between $7 billion and $10 billion.

The sale of MGM to Amazon would bolster the e-commerce giant’s Prime Video offering, which has more than 200 million members worldwide. Amazon is focusing on its video segment of Prime – an area it spent $11 billion on in 2020 for TV shows, movies, and music -- up 40% from 2019, Variety reported.

At the time of its first-quarter earnings report, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told investors that 175 million Prime members streamed Video content in the past year, which was up more than 70% year over year

Through the purchase, Amazon would clearly increase those numbers, as it adds MGM’s expansive catalog of titles to its library. MGM claims to own the world’s “deepest libraries” of premium film and TV content, according to its website.

With around 4,000 film titles in its collection, MGM has movies that range from franchises like “James Bond,” “RoboCop,” “Rocky,” “Hobbit,” and “Pink Panther.” It also has about 17,000 TV episodes from shows such as “Shark Tank,” “Teen Wolf,” “The Voice,” and “The Hills.”

MGM had revenues of $403.3 million in the first three months of 2021, up 27% year-over-year, and a net income of $29.3 million, Variety said.

Netflix had 208 million paid memberships at the end of Q1 2021.

Shares of Amazon were trading at $3,285.00 as of 9:42 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, up $14.61 or 0.45%.