Amazon in talks to buy MGM Studios for $9bn

Amazon’s potential swoop on one of Hollywood’s most famous movie studios could bolster the ecommerce giant’s Prime streaming service with a substantial backlog of films and other content including The Wizard of Oz and recent hit series The Handmaid’s Tale.

MGM Studios parent company MGM Holdings has reportedly been exploring a potential sale of the studio since the end of last year. 

The deal would mark a major step change for Amazon’s Prime streaming service as it bids to square up to rival Netflix and other burgeoning platforms.

According to Variety talks about the potential deal are being held by Amazon Studios and Prime Studios senior vice-president Mike Hopkins and MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich, whose Anchorage Capital is a major MGM shareholder. 

Neither MGM nor Amazon have provided comment on the speculation.

Reports of the potential deal came hours after telecoms giant AT&T agreed to combine its WarnerMedia unit, which owns films including the Harry Potter series and channels including HBO, with Discovery in a deal to create a new streaming giant.

The telecoms giant launched its Discovery+ streaming channel, which shows content across Discovery’s portfolio including Animal Planet, in January and has already amassed 15 million subscribers.