Deal to bolster company's video streaming service

SEATTLE  — Amazon has agreed to acquire the entertainment company MGM in an $8.45 billion deal.

Amazon said that the storied film and television studio, with nearly a century of filmmaking history, will complement its own Amazon Studios unit, which is focused on producing TV show programming. Amazon said it will help preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films, and provide customers with greater access to those existing works.

“MGM has a vast catalog with more than 4,000 films—12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, Robocop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and many other icons—as well as 17,000 TV shows—including Fargo, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Vikings—that have collectively won more than 180 Academy Awards and 100 Emmys,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”

ompletion of this transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the companies said.

“It has been an honor to have been a part of the incredible transformation of Metro Goldwyn Mayer,” MGM chairman Kevin Ulrich said. “To get here took immensely talented people with a true belief in one vision. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the MGM team who have helped us arrive at this historic day,” said Kevin Ulrich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MGM. “I am very proud that MGM’s Lion, which has long evoked the Golden Age of Hollywood, will continue its storied history, and the idea born from the creation of United Artists lives on in a way the founders originally intended, driven by the talent and their vision. The opportunity to align MGM’s storied history with Amazon is an inspiring combination.”