Having conducted a Phase 1 merger investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is concerned the deal may lead to higher prices, worse commercial terms and/or lower quality provision of editorial and stock imagery.
Getty Images and Shutterstock both supply digital content, including photos, illustrations, videos and music. Once combined, the business would have a value of more than £3 billion. The companies operate platforms which license content to customers in the UK, including major media companies, advertisers, publishers and designers, as well as many small and medium-sized businesses across the creative sector.
The content provided by Getty Images and Shutterstock can broadly be split into two categories:
- Editorial content, which includes pictures and videos of newsworthy events, people and landmarks. UK customers require UK-centric content, e.g. relating to UK sports fixtures, news events and UK celebrities. The CMA therefore considered the impact of the merger on competition for editorial content in the UK.
- Stock images, which are pre-existing photos that are licensed for commercial purposes such as advertising or marketing. While the CMA found that companies compete to supply stock content globally, customers value the extent to which suppliers can offer localised content, which the CMA took into account in its assessment.
In its Phase 1 investigation, the CMA heard widespread concerns from businesses, trade associations and other stakeholders across the UK media and creative sectors about the potential impact of this deal in the supply of editorial and stock content. This includes concerns from the News Media Association, whose members publish around 900 media titles in the UK and rely on licensed imagery to bring stories to life.
Getty and Shutterstock offered a complex package of remedies at a late stage in the Phase 1 process. Following an assessment, the CMA concluded these did not fully address its concerns.
The deal has therefore been referred to an in-depth Phase 2 inquiry which will be led by an independent panel of experts who will investigate these concerns in more detail.
More information about the investigation is available on the case page.
Notes to editors
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The deal is also currently under review by the United States Department of Justice.
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All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the CMA press office by email on press@cma.gov.uk or by phone on 020 3738 6460.
