"With more than 4,000 movies, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmy Awards, the historic, nearly century-old studio will complement the work of Prime Video and Amazon Studios to provide customers with a variety of entertainment options," says a press release.
Amazon announced in May 2021 the acquisition of MGM.
The Seattle group thus recovers a catalog which includes, among others, "James Bond" and "Rocky", but also "The Silence of the Lambs" or "Basic Instinct"...
It is the second most expensive acquisition in Amazon's history after that of American supermarkets Whole Foods for 13.7 billion dollars in 2017.
Brussels announced on Tuesday that it had unconditionally authorized this acquisition, considering that the operation posed "no competition problem" in Europe.
The transaction is however disputed in the United States.
Worried about Amazon's growing power over the subscription video streaming (SVOD) sector, unions are trying to prevent it, supported by political figures.
The Strategic Organizing Center, a federation which claims to represent nearly four million employees, notably called on the American competition authority (FTC) to oppose it.
She estimates that Amazon will control around 56,000 titles after this operation, far ahead of Netflix, which would have just under 20,000 titles.
The FTC did not react immediately to a request from AFP.
Founded in April 1924 by movie theater owner Marcus Loew, MGM has become one of Hollywood's biggest studios with a host of stars including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor.
It has experienced many financial setbacks since the 1970s, passing through many hands before declaring bankruptcy in 2010 and then restructuring.
Prime Video is Amazon's streaming platform, included in the subscription to the e-commerce service which notably allows users to be delivered free of charge and more quickly.
In April, Prime reported having more than 175 million subscribers.
© 2022 AFP