UK probing Getty-Shutterstock merger over competitors issues

The CMA has heard ‘widespread issues’ from stakeholders throughout the UK, it stated.

The UK competitors watchdog is conducting an in-depth investigation into Getty Photographs’ proposed acquisition of Shutterstock over issues that it’d result in increased costs and decrease high quality content material for shoppers.

The in-depth ‘Part 2’ investigation follows an preliminary ‘Part 1’ probe that concluded late final month.

Getty and Shutterstock are two the most important gamers within the multibillion-dollar licensed digital content material market, competing with the likes of giants reminiscent of Adobe, Alamy and Canva.

These companies supply up each editorial content material, reminiscent of licensed pictures from political occasions extensively utilized by information publications, in addition to inventory photographs, movies and different visuals used for advertising and marketing and different inventive functions. Market estimates place the inventory photographs market alone at round $7.3bn.

The newly merged enterprise between Getty and Shutterstock – which might be come to often called ‘Getty Photographs Holdings’ – would have a market worth of greater than £3bn. Getty’s present CEO Craig Peters can be main the brand new merged enterprise.

In its preliminary ‘Part 1’ investigation, the UK Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) heard “widespread issues” from the UK media and the inventive sector in regards to the potential affect of this deal within the provide of editorial and inventory content material. This included the Information Media Affiliation which consists of round 900 media titles publishing within the nation, it stated.

In keeping with the CMA, the 2 firms supplied up a “complicated bundle” of treatments, however these did not adequately deal with the watchdog’s issues, it stated. The CMA has not disclosed particulars of the treatments supplied by the 2 companies.

The ‘Part 2’ investigation has commenced, with the CMA’s choice on the probe anticipated by April 2026. In the meantime, throughout the Atlantic, the Getty-Shutterstock merger deal can also be beneath overview by the USA Division of Justice.

Final week, the AI internet browser Perplexity introduced a multi-year partnership with Getty to show its content material throughout Perplexity’s AI search instruments.

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