On the evening of March 17, Beijing time, according to reports, Amazon announced today that it has completed the acquisition of MGM Studios for $8.5 billion.

"We welcome MGM employees, creators and talent to Prime Video and Amazon," Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in a statement. Studio, we look forward to working together to create more opportunities to deliver high-quality content to our clients."

"We are excited for MGM to join the Prime Video family," said MGM Chief Operating Officer (COO) Chris Brearton. "We look forward to working with the great teams at Prime Video and Amazon Studios. Work hard to provide audiences with the best entertainment for years to come."

Just two days ago, Amazon's acquisition of MGM was approved by EU antitrust regulators. The European Commission is understood to have approved the deal "unconditionally", in part because "MGM content cannot be considered essential". The European Commission's review also found that the overlap between Amazon's and MGM's operations was "limited".

Last May, Amazon announced that it would buy MGM Studios for $8.45 billion. It's Amazon's boldest step into the entertainment industry yet, and a manifestation of Amazon's streaming ambitions. The deal is also the second-largest acquisition in Amazon's history, after the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017.

The deal will make Amazon's TV and movie library even stronger. MGM is the production company of the "007" series and also owns the Epix cable channel, which has produced "The Handmaid's Tale" (The Handmaid's Tale), "Fargo" (Fargo), "Vikings" (Vikings) and "Shark Tank" and other popular shows.

Amazon said it hopes to use MGM's storied history of filmmaking to further the development of Amazon Studios, its film and TV division. Analysts said the deal would also strengthen Amazon's streaming video service to better compete with rivals such as Netflix and Disney+.