Cleared by the US, derailed by the UK: Getty’s Shutterstock merger falls apart
Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.
Getty is planning to axe its $3.7 billion merger agreement with Shutterstock after a UK regulator imposed restrictions that would prevent part of Shutterstock’s business from being included in the deal. The move comes despite the US Department of Justice granting the deal “unconditional antitrust clearance” in February.
In an SEC filing published on Tuesday in the US, Getty said it is “not required to accept” approval conditions outlined by the UK Competitions and Markets Authority in May that require Shutterstock to sell its global editorial business, including the Backgrid and Splash paparazzi agencies.
Those conditions have proved unappealing enough for Getty to walk away from the deal, which aimed to combine the companies stock photo libraries. Both companies face competition from AI...
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