Amazon reportedly negotiating deal to acquire MGM for around $9 billion

• Amazon is negotiating to acquire MGM Studios for about $9 billion, Variety reported.
• MGM Holdings has been exploring a sale since December of last year.
• The potential sale points to Amazon expanding its Prime streaming library to include MGM’s array of content.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Amazon has been in negotiations to acquire MGM for about $9 billion, Variety reported Monday.

The tech giant has reportedly been negotiating a deal for “weeks,” industry sources told the news outlet. The Information first reported on Monday that Amazon was in talks for a potential deal that could run between $7 billion and $10 billion.

“The deal is said to be being orchestrated by Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Amazon Studios and Prime Video, directly with MGM board chairman Kevin Ulrich, whose Anchorage Capital is a major MGM shareholder,” according to the Variety report.

The potential sale of MGM to Amazon could signal the tech company’s move to expand its Amazon Prime streaming inventory to include MGM’s extensive array of content, which include the James Bond, Hobbit, and Pink Panther franchises.

Last month, the company’s streaming service surpassed 200 million Prime members worldwide – 175 million of which streamed Prime Video content in the last year, according to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

MGM Holdings has been exploring a sale since December of last year, Variety reported. At the time that it was considering a sale, the company had a market value of $5.5 billion.

Other companies have also been in the running to acquire MGM, including ViacomCBS and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Representatives from Amazon and MGM did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.