The owners of photo banks Getty Images and Shutterstock have announced a merger that will result in the creation of a unified company in the stock content market, valued at $3.7 billion. This information was reported by CNBC.
The new company will be named Getty Images Holdings and will maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GETY.
In particular, it is noted that the deal is likely to attract the attention of antitrust regulators, as the merger of these two giants will significantly strengthen their positions in the visual content market.
The news of the merger comes amid increasing pressure from generative artificial intelligence tools, such as Midjourney and DALL-E, which can create images and videos based on text prompts. The combined company aims to bolster its position in this new digital reality and develop innovative solutions.
Following the announcement of the merger, Shutterstock's shares rose by 26.5% in pre-market trading, while Getty Images' shares increased by 50.2%. Prior to this, the shares of both companies had been steadily declining in response to a decrease in demand for stock images.
The merger will enhance content offerings, expand event coverage, and implement new technologies, stated Craig Peters, CEO of Getty Images, who will lead the combined company.
Shareholders of Getty Images will own approximately 54.7% of the shares in the merged company, while the remaining portion will belong to Shutterstock.
Earlier, Spot reported that Honda and Nissan are discussing a merger to compete with the Chinese automotive industry.