Getty Images To Be Acquired by Private Equity Firm

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Today Getty Images announced that they’re sealing the deal on a take over by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for $2.4 billion including debt.

This isn’t much of a surprise as Getty has been shopping themselves around for a while as their stock price has continued to fall. Considering the difficulties they’ve been having I’m surprised at the 39% premium that is being offered even if strategically Getty has great importance with the large volume of images they control.

From a photographer’s perspective Getty has done nothing but alienate me. Several years ago getting into Getty was an important goal to achieve. Over time their policies to charge for submissions, hosting and desperate attempt to create new pricing structures that negatively impact the market as a whole have kept me from taking them seriously. As I’ve been working to ramp up my photography business talking with other photographers about Getty, who themselves are represented by Getty (among other agencies), usually triggers a highly negative tirade.

In many regards considering how the market has transformed I have no sympathy for Getty. They have zero interest in helping photographers and their efforts that have undermined the photography market have finally caught up with them. I have reservations about what the future may hold. Private equity firms are all about the bottom line and that likely will translate to more extreme changes to make a fast buck. The impact may likely be an accelerated transformation of the stock photography market as Getty transforms itself under its new ownership. The net result will undoubtedly have downstream impact to other agencies and even individual photographers. Let’s hope for the best.

Getty Images to Sell Itself for $2.4 Billion – New York Times

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