Amazon's MGM purchase wins European approval
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Amazon.com's (AMZN
+3.1%) $8.5 billion deal to buy MGM Studios (OTC:MGMB) has received an unconditional approval from European regulators.
The European Commission says the deal will not significantly reduce competition, naming a couple of factors.
The two companies don't significantly overlap in their content production, the EC says. And it adds that MGM content can't be considered a "must-have." That despite contentions by the deal's opponents that an Amazon Prime Video library of more than 55,000 titles would dwarf Netflix's trove of nearly 20,000 titles.
The EC had a deadline for Tuesday to decide on the deal. Now it need to pass muster with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which isn't a sure thing.
Amazon filings earlier in March set up a sort of "shot clock" that pressed the FTC to act this month on the deal. A slowdown in Europe could have bought the FTC more time, but now it looks like resolution of the deal one way or the other is close at hand.