MGM may soon be part of another, larger media company.
According to CNBC, Apple and Netflix are in early talks with MGM about a possible acquisition. The studio holds the rights to valuable intellectual properties, including the James Bond franchise and Hulu's The Handmaiden's Tale. It also owns Epix, the premium cable network that hosts Pennyworth, and the Rocky and Max Max franchises. MGM is reportedly valued at $10 billion at the time of writing.
The report speculates that MGM is an attractive purchase because it "is heavy on intellectual property and light on people." What's more, Apple recently launched its own streaming service, so this acquisition would bring in an experienced, time-tested studio that won't clash with its existing company culture. Netflix, on the other hand, needs to push out more content than its competitors in order to stay relevant in its crowded market; as a result, "buying a studio could help jump start Netflix’s original productions" and help the streaming service hit its goal of 95 original movies a year.
Even so, Apple and Netflix don't have a history of making acquisitions of this size. In fact, Netflix has never done a material acquisition like this, while Apple's largest acquisition was the $3 billion purchase of Beats. This hurts the chances of either company following through with the acquisition, but certainly does not rule them out.
MGM, Apple and Netflix declined to comment on the report.