Getty Images and Shutterstock, $3.7 Billion Deal Falls Through: 'UK CMA Conditions Unacceptable'

Getty Images has decided to discontinue its $3.7 billion merger with Shutterstock, an operation announced in early 2025 that would have created one of the largest players in the global stock images sector. The decision comes after conditions imposed by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), deemed incompatible with the goals of the agreement.

The operation had already received unconditional approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, which granted antitrust clearance in previous months. The situation changed with the intervention of the British authority, which, in May, subordinated the approval of the merger to the divestiture of Shutterstock's entire global editorial business, including the segments dedicated to news photography and specialized celebrity image agencies, such as Backgrid and Splash.

According to the British authority, the integration of the two companies would have reduced competition in the editorial image market, thereby limiting choices available to media outlets in the UK. Essentially, UK authorities feared a disproportionate increase in prices.

In light of these demands, the board of directors of Getty Images unanimously voted to suspend the agreement, as the conditions imposed by the UK CMA, namely proceeding with the sale of Shutterstock's editorial segment, were deemed unacceptable. The decision was communicated through a document filed with the SEC, in which the company specifies that the merger will be definitively shelved in the absence of substantial changes to the conditions by July 7.

The initial goal was to combine the vast photographic archives of both companies to strengthen competitiveness in a sector facing increasing pressure from AI-based image generators. The new entity would have retained the name Getty Images Holdings Inc. and would have represented a significant integration project for both companies.

In recent months, both Getty Images and Shutterstock have also signed agreements with OpenAI that allow the display of their watermarked images in search results from ChatGPT. Meanwhile, many major publishers still prefer traditional photographs over AI-generated content for their journalistic publications.

This case also exemplifies the weight of British antitrust authorities in international operations. In the past, the same Competition and Markets Authority had already required Meta to divest Giphy for competitive reasons, a platform that was subsequently acquired by Shutterstock. Once again, despite the approval received in the United States, the conditions set in the UK led to the definitive cancellation of a $3.7 billion deal.