Amazon, who closed a deal to acquire MGM and its catalogue for roughly $8.5 billion USD ($12 billion AUD), have disclosed that the estimated value of the latter is less than half that.
The deal was closed on March 17th, with Amazon stating that the assets “primarily consist of $3.4 billion ($4.8 billion AUD) of video content”. The remaining ‘$4.9 billion’ USD ($6.9 billion AUD) pays for “the established reputation of a business regarded as a quantifiable asset.”
Amazon has also stated that “Due to the limited amount of time since the MGM acquisition, the valuation of certain assets and liabilities is preliminary and subject to change.
As the company’s executive chairman and founder, Jeff Bezos stated in 2021, “We’re looking forward to reimagining and developing the deep catalog of MGM.”
“The acquisition’s thesis here is really very simple: MGM has a vast, deep catalog of much-loved intellectual property. With the talented people at MGM and Amazon Studios, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21st century… People who love stories are going to be the big beneficiaries.”
Credit: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
MGM is home to over 4,000 films and 17,000 TV episodes, including James Bond, Rocky and Legally Blonde.
Amazon have had a rough Q1, disappointing investors with their first loss in almost 7 years. This has been largely due to a decrease in the value of their investment in Rivian, an electric vehicle company.
Making matters worse, MGM had two big names resign, with motion picture group chairman of the company Michael De Luca resigning, closely followed by motion picture group president Pamela Abdy.
Revenue Growth for Amazon sits at 7%, which is the lowest in quite some time, and is expected to only increase by 3% to 7% for Q2.
