Amazon has pursued mergers and acquisitions (M&A) aggressively since 1998, primarily to expand into new markets, eliminate competition, and acquire technology that provides a competitive edge, with a notable focus on e-commerce and software sectors. Over 22 years, Amazon has completed around 100 acquisitions, with significant deals including Whole Foods Market in 2017 and various technology firms to bolster its logistics and cloud services. In contrast, Disney's M&A strategy has evolved from organic growth to large acquisitions of brands like Pixar, Marvel, and 21st Century Fox, enhancing its portfolio and streaming capabilities.

1. 1
M&A done by Amazon
and Disney
Overview of their strategic approach

2. 2
M&A done by
Amazon

3. 3
Since 1998 Amazon has been aggressively expanding using also M&A. They have
been doing the M&A for different reasons. Mainly to expand and kill competitors.

4. 4
When it comes to players that do M&A we have 2 main group of players
Why Amazon does
M&A
M&A to enter new
markets
M&A of competitors
M&A to acquire
technology giving
competitive advantage
M&A of
complementary
businesses
M&A to change the
business model
Other
 On some markets
Amazon has bought
local companies to
speed up the
entrance (Germany,
UK, China, Arab
countries)
 This is faster and in
some cases cheaper
 Amazon also buys
firms to enter new
product categories
(e.g. Ring and Blink
to enter security for
home; Pillpack to
enter healthcare)
 Amazon bought
existing competitors
(e.g. Zappos,
diapers.com, Book
Depository)
 Amazon has been
also buying potential
competitors that
could compete with
him in the future
(e.g. Stanza –
potential rival to
Kindle bought &
killed; Audible)
 Amazon bought Kiva
(producer of robots
that helped him
automate the
logistics) to slow
down adoption by
competitors
 Amazon bought
Zoox to probably
create self driving
trucks that UPS,
FedEx will not have
 They have acquired
Alexa and IVONA to
get into the voice
search
 Amazon has bought
many businesses to
strengthen AWS,
Amazon
Marketplace, Twitch
etc.
 Amazon bought
Wholesale Foods to
shift from pure
online to
omnichannel

5. 5
While Amazon’s acquisition streak peaked just before the dot.com bubble, it is
noticeable to observe that the number of deals has been increasing after 2015
Number of M&A deals per year
In # of deals*
5
9
2
1
4
2 2
7
3
6
5 5
4
5
9
7
12
4
9
2
1998 1999 2001 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
* When it comes to the most important acquisition Amazon has acquired around 100 companies in the period of 22 years

6. 6
Let’s break down the deals by sector. It becomes apparent, that the main focus
for acquisitions has been e-commerce and software businesses
1
4
1 1 1 1
8
3
6
1
3
2
4
2
1
2
1 1
3
2 4
3
3
2 2
1
1
3
1
2
1
2
4 2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1998 1999 2001 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Cloud & Software Services E-commerce & Marketplace Entertainment Financial Services Home Offline Retail Robotics & Logistics
Number of M&A deals per year per category
In # of deals*
* When it comes to the most important acquisition Amazon has acquired around 100 companies in the period of 22 years

7. 7
While Amazon’s acquisition streak peaked just before the dot.com bubble, it is
noticeable to observe that the number of deals has been increasing after 2015
Money spent on M&A
In M of USD*
305 675
6 75 0 3 0 300
1 200 755 312
801
0
970 885
0
14 510
1 672
372
1 200
1998 1999 2001 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
* Only deals with known value

8. 8
By far the biggest M&A of amazon was their attempt to get into offline retail by
taking over Whole Food Market in 2017
13 700
305 675
6
75
0 3 0
300 1 200 755
312
801
0
970 885
0
810
1 672 372 1 200
1998 1999 2001 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Offline Retail Others

9. 9
Apart from that they did a few pretty big M&A in other sectors as well
250 273
885
130
40
250
300
6
75 0 0 0
300
1 200
755
26
580 753
55
0
312
970
102
3
40
90
839
97
775
1 200
1998 1999 2001 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Cloud & Software Services E-commerce & Marketplace Entertainment Financial Services Home Offline Retail Robotics & Logistics
Money spent on M&A by broad category without Offline Retial
In M of USD*
* Only deals with known value

10. 10
Let’s look at some of their acquisition done for the e-commerce & marketplace
BookPages.co.uk
Company
Acquired
Year Country Strategic Reasoning
 1998  United Kingdom  Cornerstone for UK expansion, was transformed to Amazon UK
Telebuch.de
 1998  Germany  Cornerstone for Germany expansion, was transformed to
Amazon Germany
Joyo.com
 2004  China  Now Amazon China was back then the start of Amazon’s China
business
Audible
 2004  USA  Made Amazon the largest platform for audiobooks and one of
its largest producers
Zappos
 2009  USA  Gave Amazon a leading position in the USA fashion e-
commerce sector
Quidsi
 2010  USA  Provided Amazon with bigger access to parents as a segment
(baby-products)
Touchco
 2010  USA  Gave Amazon a manufacturer for its Kindle books
Evi
 2012  USA  Produced software that became an essential part of „Alexa”
Souq
 2017  USA  Cornerstone for their expansion into Arab countries
 Access to Arab countries by acquiring the largest e-commerce
platform

11. 11
Let’s have a look at some important M&A done in Robotics & Logistics
Kiva Systems
Company
Acquired
Year Country Strategic Reasoning
 2012  USA  Provided access to automized logistics and robots for
operational excellence
Kiva Systems
Zoox
 2020  USA  Self-driving technology that can be used for trucks but also to
get into uber/cab/taxi business

12. 12
 2015
Annapurna Labs
NICE
CloudEndure
Elemental
Technologies
Let’s have a look at some examples of M&A done in Cloud Business
Company
Acquired
Year Country Strategic Reasoning
 Israel  Gave Amazon its own chip-designer
 2016  Italy  Delivers comprehensive Grid & Cloud Solutions for companies
and institutions
 2019  Israel  CloudEndure provides Live Migration and Disaster Recovery
for any application. Helps them expand the cloud services
 2019  Israel  Elemental Technologies is the leading supplier of software-
defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. Helps
them expand the cloud services

13. 13
Ring
 2017  USA  Gives Amazon a home automation and home security platform
 In this way they have entered the home sector
Blink Home
Let’s have a look at M&A they have done to create the “Home” business
Company
Acquired
Year Country Strategic Reasoning
 2018  USA  Expands Amazon’s network for home automation and home
security

14. 14
Twitch
Let’s have a look at some M&A done in Entertainment business
Company
Acquired
Year Country Strategic Reasoning
 2014  USA  Leading game streaming platform. In this way they have
entered new category and have also secured capacity usage
for AWS.
 2019  Sweden  IGDB is a gaming database. Will help improve Twitch search
and discovery features.
IGDB
 2020  USA  Wondery is a big producer of podcasts. It helps them improve
their offer in the Prime sector (along with Prime Video and
Prime Music). Again, it is an attempt to secure usage for AWS
Wondery

15. 15
M&A – Disney

16. 16
Let’s look at how the approach of Disney has changed when
it comes to M&A and what they have actually bought.

17. 17
At the beginning Disney was growing by developing new concepts. Later
on the company focused on acquiring other brands
Walt signed a
contract with M. J.
Winkler to produce
a series of “Alice
Comedies” — the
date used as the
start of the Disney
company first
known as “The
Disney Brothers
Studio”
1923 1928 1940
M&A
Mickey Mouse is
created and Disney
concentrates on
producing own
content
Walt Disney
Productions issues
its first stock.
Walt Disney Music
Company formed.
1949 1954
First airing
of Disneyland
television show.
Opening of first
Disneyland in
Anaheim,
California.
1955 1969
Walt Disney
Educational
Materials Co.
incorporated.
The Disney Channel
begins
broadcasting.
1983 1995
Agreement to
purchase Capital
Cities/ABC for $19
billion
Fox Family Channel
acquired and
renamed for ABC
Family Channel
2001 2006
Disney purchases
Pixar Animation
Studios.
Organic growth
2009
Disney’s acquisition
of Marvel
Entertainment is
completed.
2012 2017
The Walt Disney
Company
announces its
agreement to
purchase Lucasfilm
Ltd.
The Walt Disney
Company acquires
21st Century Fox
for $71.3 billion.
The acquisition
was completed
within in 2019
2019
The end of the deal
for sharing the
content with
Netflix. Strong
entrance into
online streaming
services with
Disney +,
ESPN+

18. 18
Apart from that they did a few pretty big M&A in other sectors as well
75 7 400 4 000 4 000
71 300
400 1 770 450 2 580
19 000
2 900
1 996 1 998 1 999 2 001 2 004 2 006 2 009 2 012 2 014 2 017 2 019
Brands & Content Other Streaming TV channels
Money spent on M&A by broad categories
In M of USD*
* Only deals with known value

19. 19
For more on strategic approach, check my online course on Strategy. Below the
link
Strategy for Management Consultants
& Business Analysts
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20. 20
You can also have a look at the M&A course that will help you during consulting
projects
M&A for Management Consultants &
Business Analysts
$190
$19
Click here to check my course

21. 21
Check also why strategic investors do M&A?
Click here to go to the video

22. 22
Check also what benefits do strategic investors expect from M&A
Click here to go to the video

23. 23
Check also the video showing Why PE funds buy firms and how do they make
money on that?
Click here to go to the video

24. 24
Check the video showing wow the M&A process looks like.
Click here to go to the video

25. 25
Check the video showing what M&A project do management consultant
conduct.
Click here to go to the video

26. 26
Check the video on the so-called Multiplier effect
Click here to go to the video

27. 27
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