Getty Images scraps Shutterstock merger after UK regulator demand

Getty Images abandoned its planned merger with Shutterstock after Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority required Shutterstock to sell its editorial business before the deal could close. The collapse ended a transaction announced on January 7, 2025, that would have combined two of the biggest names in licensed visual content and created a company with an enterprise value of about $3.7 billion.

The CMA gave the deal conditional clearance on May 15, 2026, but the merger raised competition concerns for editorial content supplied to UK media outlets. The regulator drew a line between stock content and editorial material. Editorial material includes pictures and videos of newsworthy events, people and landmarks. UK customers need both global and country-specific content for sports, news events and celebrities. It concluded that Shutterstock was one of the few meaningful alternatives to Getty in that market and the transaction could proceed only if Shutterstock sold its global editorial business, which operates under the Shutterstock Editorial, Backgrid and Splash brands, to a CMA-approved buyer.

Getty’s decision to scrap the merger came as the combined company would have kept the Getty Images Holdings name, continued trading on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker GETY and generated annual cost synergies of $150 million to $200 million by year three. The merger would strengthen its financial foundation and support more investment in content creation, event coverage and new technologies, including search, 3D imagery and generative AI.

Shutterstock’s 2025 revenue was $989.9 million, up 6% from 2024, with adjusted EBITDA of $271.8 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 27.5%. Its Content business generated $786.7 million, or 79% of total revenue, while its Data, Distribution and Services business grew at double-digit rates. After Getty announced it would end the merger, Shutterstock shares fell about 30% in after-hours trading.