Amazon Acquires MGM Studios for $8.5 Billion

Amazon said on Wednesday it will officially acquire MGM Studios for $8.45 billion, marking its most daring move in the entertainment industry, which would boost its broadcast ambitions.

Amazon said it hopes to leverage MGM's filmmaking history and its extensive catalog of 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows to help bolster Amazon's studios and film and television pision.

MGM will make Amazon TV and Movies library even more powerful, as Hollywood Studio owns the James Bond catalog and has presented several hit shows including "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Fargo". It also owns the premium cable network Epix and owns several popular reality TV shows, including "Shark Tank", "Survivor" and "The Real Housewives".

The deal is the second-largest acquisition in Amazon's history, after its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017. MGM has been searching for a buyer for several years when it emerged from bankruptcy in 2010.

Amazon stock moved up only 0.67% after the announcement to $3,281, while MGM stock prices jumped 0.38% to $42.37.

The MGM deal could heighten Amazon's antitrust concerns. The company is facing ongoing investigations by several federal agencies, state prosecutors and Europe's antitrust watchdog. The House Antitrust Subcommittee released a sweeping report last October that found Amazon has monopoly power over third-party sellers in its marketplace, raising prices for consumers and hurting competition.

The acquisition announcement comes one day after new antitrust claims were levied against Amazon, which pushed back against the claims, saying that sellers set their own prices for their products on its marketplace.