Getty Images Officially Drops Its Merger Plans with Shutterstock

The $3.7 billion deal fell through over Shutterstock's editorial business.

Not all massive mergers conclude the way the participants expect. Getty Images and Shutterstock joining forces might not be the drama of the Microsoft/Activision scale, but it would be quite significant, as they are the biggest stock image providers. Would be but won't be, as Getty officially abandoned the plan after the investigation completed by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Getty Images and Shutterstock announced their $3.7 billion merger in January 2025. The CMA opened an investigation to determine whether the deal would harm competition. While the global stock scene has plenty of alternatives, it was concluded that editorial images were mostly provided by these two companies, so the loss of competition "would reduce choice for UK media outlets and could lead to higher prices, with knock-on negative impacts for consumers who rely on high-quality editorial content to stay informed."

The CMA agreed to approve the deal if Shutterstock sold its editorial business. However, Getty Images decided to terminate the agreement and notified the CMA on July 7, 2026.

"The decision by Getty to abandon its merger with Shutterstock is ultimately a commercial choice. Our investigation cleared the merger on the condition that the companies sold Shutterstock’s editorial business – which is something they initially offered to do at an earlier stage of proceedings," said Margot Daly, chair of the independent inquiry group leading the investigation. "Since our final report, we have worked swiftly and closely with Getty and Shutterstock on the proposed sale and have engaged with several potential buyers to assess their suitability. This process was at an advanced stage at the time of Getty’s announcement.

Interestingly, today, on July 9, Getty announced new Creative and Editorial image subscriptions for individuals, although it is likely not related to the case.

So, the world of stock images stays unchanged for the moment, for better or for worse.

Would you like to see Getty Images and Shutterstock merged?

Don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform and Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Are you a fan of what we do here at 80 Level? Then make sure to set us as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our content in your feed.