Amazon’s MGM deal would add to frenzy for streaming assets

Amazon.com Inc.’s potential acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would take one of the last major, independent movie studios off the market, capping a rush of streaming deals that are set to make 2021 a record year for media takeovers.

Amazon is in talks to buy MGM, the storied Hollywood company behind the James Bond series, the Information and Variety said in separate reports late Monday. Amazon is weeks into negotiations to buy the studio for about $9 billion, according to Variety. Reports about the discussions came on the day that AT&T Inc. announced its plan to create a new entertainment company by merging assets with Discovery Inc. in an entity that will be valued at about $130 billion including debt. The success of streaming giant Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co., which launched its own video-on-demand service after buying $71 billion in assets from 21st Century Fox Inc. in 2018, is drawing new competitors into the market.