By: Nick Gambino
At a time when the future of stock images is uncertain thanks to generative AI, two of the biggest licensed image silos have decided to merge.
Getty Images announced that they would be merging with Shutterstock and in doing so will create a company valued at $3.7 billion.
Services like Midjourney where you can “create” a unique image almost instantaneously are threatening the stock image business model. The best move seems to be to merge the two biggest companies in the industry and in combining their might, take on the tidal wave that is AI images.
“Today’s announcement is exciting and transformational for our companies, unlocking multiple opportunities to strengthen our financial foundation and invest in the future – including enhancing our content offerings, expanding event coverage, and delivering new technologies to better serve our customers,” the CEO of Getty Images, Craig Peters, said in a statement.
The merger sees Getty Images buying Shutterstock for a yet unannounced price. Obviously as two large publicly traded companies, there’s going to be some housekeeping to make sure everyone is happy in the transition.
Now, shareholders of Shutterstocks have three options before them:
- They can switch out their holdings for 13.67 shares of Getty Images per Shutterstock share they currently own.
- They can take $28.80 in straight cash for each share of Shutterstock
- They can do a hybrid solution where they get $9.50 in cash per Shutterstock share in addition to 9.17 shares of Getty Images.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this merger means we’ll be seeing an AI generator on the new Getty Images-Shutterstock platform. This was hinted at in the Getty Images CEO’s statement about opportunities for new technologies.
“We expect the merger to produce value for the customers and stockholders of both companies by capitalizing on attractive growth opportunities to drive combined revenues, accelerating product innovation, realizing significant cost synergies and improving cash flow,” Shutterstock CEO, Paul Hennessy, said of the merger.
That’s a whole lot of corporate speak for “we need to innovate and fast before we’re rendered obsolete by cutting-edge technology.”
