WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said it had closed its $8.5 billion deal to buy MGM, combining the fabled movie maker behind “Rocky” and “James Bond” with the online retailing giant as it looks to draw consumers through more streaming video.
In a blog post, Amazon said it would welcome all MGM employees to the company and work with the studio’s leadership, indicating there would not be layoffs. Its decision to close comes after a deadline passed for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to challenge the deal.
The Seattle-based retailer announced the transaction in May 2021, saying MGM offered a trove of content to develop and use to draw consumers to its fast-shipping and streaming club Prime, which costs $14.99 per month in the United States.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Amazon, MGM’s staff will join the organization of Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios.
Nearly a year later, Amazon is clear of regulatory hurdles to proceed. The European Commission approved the deal Tuesday, with no conditions, saying it would not pose competition concerns. Likewise, Amazon earlier informed the FTC that it had “substantially complied” with requests for information about the deal.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz, Jeffrey Dastin and Dawn ChmielewskiEditing by Nick Zieminski)