Amazon announced Thursday it has closed its acquisition of Hollywood studio MGM, two days after European regulators said the deal "would not significantly reduce competition" in European markets.
The retail giant had announced the $8.5 billion deal in May, making it the company's second-largest acquisition following its $13.7 billion deal with Whole Foods in 2017. The latest acquisition was aimed at boosting Amazon's streaming services to compete against Netflix and Disney+.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month Amazon certified to the Federal Trade Commission it provided information sought by antitrust investigators regarding the deal, adding it could be free to close the purchase if the commission doesn't file a legal challenge before a mid-March deadline.
One of the oldest studios in Hollywood, MGM has been through bankruptcy and new sets of owners in the past decade while its new releases dwindled.
Amazon praised the deal in a blog post Thursday, saying MGM has more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes and awards that "will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios' work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers."
Amazon plans to draw on the vast MGM library, with famous characters such as Rocky, RoboCop and Pink Panther, to create new movies and shows.
"We are excited for MGM and its bounty of iconic brands, legendary films and television series, and our incredible team and creative partners to join the Prime Video family," MGM's Chief Operating Officer Chris Brearton said in a statement.
The latest acquisition comes as antitrust regulators scrutinize Amazon for its broader practices and operations. Last week, House lawmakers asked the Justice Department to investigate whether the tech giant and senior executives obstructed Congress or violated other federal laws in testimony on its competition practices.
Harvey Weinstein hit with new sex crime charge in New York
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.
Details of the new allegations were not immediately available. He was charged with committing a criminal sex act.
The jailed ex-movie mogul has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren't part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.
Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.
But it's not clear whether any of those allegations underlie the new indictment.
While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state's highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
Prosecutors have said they'll seek to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein's lawyers say it should be a separate case.
Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.
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