The planned merger between Getty Images and Shutterstock has been officially scrapped after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) demanded that Shutterstock sell its editorial business. This decision follows the CMA's conditional clearance for the deal earlier this year, which was contingent on the sale of the editorial assets – a condition initially agreed to by the companies.
The CMA's independent inquiry group, led by Margot Daly, concluded that while the abandonment is a commercial choice, their investigation had cleared the merger subject to the specific condition of the editorial business sale. The CMA had been actively working with both Getty and Shutterstock on the proposed sale, engaging with several potential buyers, with the process reportedly at an advanced stage when Getty made its announcement.
The CMA's in-depth analysis found that a merger between the two image giants would significantly reduce competition in the editorial content market, potentially leading to higher prices for essential news, sport, and entertainment content. This could have had a negative impact on UK consumers, who rely on high-quality editorial content to stay informed.
Initially, Getty and Shutterstock estimated that their merger would generate annual cost synergies of between $150 million and $200 million within three years, primarily linked to their stock content businesses. However, the CMA's inquiry group found no significant competition concerns in this area due to the evolving landscape of Generative AI (GenAI) and increasing competition from firms like Adobe and Canva. Conversely, the CMA identified concerns regarding editorial content that necessitated the divestment.
The CMA has confirmed it will cease all remaining work on this case after Getty's decision to terminate the merger. The complex assessment process involved extensive evidence gathering, including a customer survey, and multiple proposals from the companies regarding the sale of Shutterstock's editorial assets, none of which fully satisfied the CMA's concerns without the complete divestiture of its editorial operations.