Regulator Roadblock Forces Getty-Shutterstock $3.7B Merger to Fold
Getty Images walked away from its $3.7 billion merger with Shutterstock after the UK CMA demanded the sale of Shutterstock’s editorial business, a condition the Getty board deemed a non-starter. The company says it will hire a financial adviser to explore strategic financing alternatives as it contemplates next steps. The deal would have generated roughly $150–$200 million in annual synergies and would have consolidated stock and editorial visuals, underscoring regulatory leverage in major media deals even as Getty had recently inked a licensing pact with OpenAI to license its library for ChatGPT.
