Getty scraps $3.7B Shutterstock deal after UK antitrust requires key sale

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Getty Images notified Shutterstock on Tuesday that it's scrapping plans to combine the companies in a $3.7 billion deal because it didn't want to comply with a key condition laid out by Britain's antitrust regulator.

In a filing, Getty said that it “delivered a written notice to Shutterstock terminating the Merger Agreement," which was announced last year as part of a plan to create a visual content giant.

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority had approved the deal following an investigation but only on condition that Shutterstock's editorial business be sold to an approved buyer. The regulator was concerned that the combined company would result in a substantial lessening of competition resulting in reduced choice and higher prices for U.K. media outlets.

Getty's board had voted unanimously last week against proceeding with the deal if it required selling Shutterstock's editorial business.

Both companies license content including photos, illustrations, music and videos to major British media companies, advertisers, publishers and designers, as well as small and medium businesses in the creative industry, according to the CMA.

The regulator said that the decision to scrap the deal was “a commercial choice” and noted that it was the two companies that had initially offered to sell the Shutterstock editorial business.

Since issuing conditional approval in May, the U.K. regulators have “worked swiftly and closely with Getty and Shutterstock on the proposed sale and have engaged with several potential buyers to assess their suitability,” Margot Daly, who chaired the CMA's investigation, said in a statement. “This process was at an advanced stage at the time of Getty’s announcement."

In afternoon trading, Getty Images shares shed 10%. Shutterstock shares fell 3%.