May 18, 2021

Amazon is reportedly negotiating to buy MGM, the owner of the Pink Panther

It's turning into quite a week for media biz mega-deals. First, Warnermedia and Discovery announced a merger; now word is spreading that Amazon is looking to buy MGM.

The tech giant is weeks into negotiations to acquire the storied Hollywood studio, industry sources told Variety. The reported price tag is around $9 billion. Currently, MGM's biggest shareholder is hedge fund Anchorage Capital.

MGM is one of the few Hollywood studios not (yet) to have been bought by a huge conglomerate. But it has apparently been courting potential buyers for some time. In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that the studio was looking for a sale, citing people familiar with the matter. The company was then valued at around $5.5B, according to the paper.

Home to franchises like James Bond and Robocop, MGM owns some notable animation as well, including the Pink Panther shorts and other theatrical shorts produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises for The Mirisch Company. Its library also includes Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH and his All Dogs Go to Heaven franchise. (Note: MGM does not own the iconic library of films it produced before 1986, which reside at Warnermedia, nor DePatie-Freleng's tv productions.)

Amazon's growing media empire includes streaming service Prime Video, which is behind only Netflix in U.S. market share, and producer-distributor Amazon Studios. Last year, the company spent $11B on Prime content - up 40% from 2019. In a sign that it is stepping up its commitment to this area, Amazon recently tapped Jeff Blackburn to oversee a newly consolidated global media and entertainment group.

Image at top: Pink Panther short “The Pink Phink”