Amazon.com has proposed a $6.5 billion acquisition of film studio MGM.
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Kaelin Mendez/Getty Images
European Union antitrust officers gave a inexperienced gentle to
Amazon.com Inc.’s
proposed $6.5 billion acquisition of film studio MGM, clearing one hurdle for the e-commerce large forward of a deadline for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to ship a verdict on the deal.
The European Commission, the EU’s govt arm and its high competitors regulator, stated Tuesday that it has authorized the deal with out situations. The fee stated the deal wouldn’t considerably cut back competitors in half as a result of the 2 corporations don’t considerably overlap in content material manufacturing and that MGM content material “cannot be considered as must-have.”
The proposed deal, which was announced last May, would give Amazon entry to an intensive movie and TV catalog, together with James Bond motion pictures, that would higher place its Prime Video streaming service to compete with more-dominant rivals similar to Netflix.
Amazon notified the EU in regards to the deal in February, and antitrust regulators set a provisional deadline of March 15 to approve it or resolve to open an in-depth investigation.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Amazon had successfully given antitrust regulators on the Federal Trade Commission, who’re additionally reviewing the acquisition, a mid-March deadline. If the FTC doesn’t file a authorized problem earlier than the deadline, Amazon may transfer ahead with the deal.
Amazon is amongst a number of main, U.S.-based tech corporations which are dealing with heightened scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe over their dimension and whether or not their habits is harming smaller rivals. The EU is finishing laws that will designate Amazon and several other different massive tech corporations as “gatekeepers” that should abide by a brand new set of guidelines for the way they deal with rivals and customers.
Separately, each the European Commission and the FTC have opened investigations into Amazon’s enterprise practices in current years. The fee has additionally filed charges against Amazon, accusing it of breaking antitrust guidelines in a case that’s pending. Amazon has denied the allegations.
Write to Kim Mackrael at [email protected]
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