Getty Images on the Block: $1.5 Billion Buys a Lot of Pictures

Word on the Street (as in Wall) is that Seattle-based Getty Images has put itself up for sale. The New York Times speculates that the company, the world’s largest supplier of pictures and video to media and advertising companies, could fetch more than $1.5 billion (that’s enough to buy at least 250,000 Leica M8s!). Private equity firms such as KKR and Bain Capital are reportedly interested.

Founded in 1995 by Jonathan Klein and Getty scion Mark Getty “with the goal of turning a disjointed and fragmented stock photography market into a thriving, modernized industry able to meet the changing needs of visual communicators,” the company has since expanded from its core business of licensing images from professional photographers to include video footage. Getty’s acquisitions have included Eastman Kodak‘s Image Bank, iStockphoto.com, and MediaVast (parent company of WireImage).

But Getty has been struggling to stay competitive in today’s image-crazed, cell phone camera-laden market. Last year, the company’s stock price plummeted by more than 47%. According to the Times, interested parties have until the end of the month to submit their final bids. Getty won’t confirm that it is for sale, but the company does have a January 31st earnings call on the calendar. Maybe they’ll have more than financial results to announce.

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