Feb. 23 at 1:49 PM
Shares of Shutterstock and Getty Images rose after the U.S. Department of Justice cleared their proposed merger of equals. The DOJ completed its antitrust review and the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period expired without conditions, marking a key milestone for the deal aimed at combining two major players in the stock image and content licensing market.
Getty CEO Craig Peters welcomed the decision, saying it advances plans to unite the companies, strengthen their financial foundation, and invest for future growth. Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy added that the merger would allow the combined company to better serve customers and contributors by leveraging complementary strengths.
The companies expect meaningful synergies in SG&A and capital expenditures following closing. However, regulatory review is still ongoing in the U.K., where the Competition and Markets Authority issued a provisional Phase 2 report on Feb. 19 and is expected to issue a final decision by April 19.
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