Shutterstock’s integration with Getty is a mess

Getty prepares to shoot The deal totals $3.7 billion and Shutterstock after the 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 issuing an agreement “unlimited antitrust license” in February.

In SEC file published on Tuesday in the US, Getty said “it is not necessary to accept” acceptable announced by the UK Competitions and Markets Authority in May which required Shutterstock to sell its global business, including Backgrid and Splash paparazzi agencies.

This has been unpleasant enough for Getty to pull out of the deal, which was intended to combine companies with image libraries. Both companies face competition from AI image generators that offer fast and cost-effective on-demand advertising. The company’s directors “unanimously” voted to terminate the merger agreement on July 6, “assuming no material changes to the foregoing” occur before July 7. This leaves the Getty/Shutterstock combination dead in the water.