Getty Images adds Celeb Archive
Getty Images, one of the dominant companies in the Stock Photo industry, and a company comfortable with growth via acquisition, announced it would acquire the holdings of MediaVast, Inc (the parent of photoservice Wireimage) for approximately $200m in cash. The deal will give Getty an increased archive of celebrity photos and video to add to its already vast library of images and video, including the royalty-free istockphoto.com that it acquired in 2006. (Wireimage owns the largest entertainment photo and video archive in the industry).
Wireimage will retain its photographers, executive staff and name. Wireimage and all of Mediavast’s other assets, which also include the Film Magic and Contour Photos business lines, will be incorporated in the editorial division of Getty’s business which focuses on providing images for new services.
The deal will likely close in the next two months but may draw some antitrust regulatory oversight or review before being completed.
