NEW YORK (AP) — Getty Images is buying Shutterstock to create a $3.7 billion visual content company.
The merger comes at a time when companies that use still images are facing increased competition from images generated by artificial intelligence.
The companies said Tuesday that they have complementary portfolios and that a merger will provide customers with a broader array still imagery, video, music, 3D and other media.
“With the rapid rise in demand for compelling visual content across industries, there has never been a better time for our two businesses to come together," Getty Images CEO Craig Peters said in a prepared statement.
Peters will serve as CEO of the combined business.
“We are excited by the opportunities we see to expand our creative content library and enhance our product offering to meet diverse customer needs,” Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy said.
Getty Images shareholders will own about 54.7% of the combined company at closing and Shutterstock stockholders will own approximately 45.3%.
Shutterstock shareholders can choose to receive either approximately $28.85 per share in cash for each share of Shutterstock common stock they own; about 13.67 shares of Getty Images common stock for each share of Shutterstock common stock they own; or a mixed consideration of 9.17 shares of Getty Images common stock plus $9.50 in cash for each share of Shutterstock common stock they own.
The combined company will operate as Getty Images, and will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ‘GETY’ ticker symbol.
Its board will have 11 members, comprised of Peters, six directors designated by Getty Images and four directors designated by Shutterstock, including Hennessy. The chairman will be Mark Getty, current chairman of Seattle-based Getty Images.
Shares of New York-based Shutterstock jumped more than 30% before the market opened, while Getty Images' stock soared more than 58%.
FILE - A sign for the Seattle office of Getty Images Inc., is shown Monday, Feb. 25, 2008, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
FILE - A sign for the Seattle office of Getty Images Inc., is shown Monday, Feb. 25, 2008, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — Tens of thousands of residents in western Washington could face evacuation orders when another round of heavy rain drops on the region Thursday, threatening to bring catastrophic flooding as rivers near historic levels.
Days of seemingly unrelenting heavy rain had already triggered rescues and road closures, and by Wednesday, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency, warning that "lives will be at stake in the coming days.” Some residents have already been ordered to higher ground, with Skagit County, a major agricultural region north of Seattle, ordering those within the Skagit River’s floodplain to evacuate.
“Catastrophic flooding is likely” in many areas and the state is requesting water rescue teams and boats, Ferguson said on the social media platform X on Wednesday night
Hundreds of Guard members will be sent to help communities, said Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard.
In a valley leading out to the foothills of Mount Rainier southeast of Seattle, Pierce County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including helping one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over concerns about the Puyallup River’s extremely high levels and upstream levees.
A landslide blocked part of Interstate 90 east of Seattle, with photos from Eastside Fire & Rescue showing vehicles trapped by tree trunks, branches, mud and standing water. Officials also closed a mountainous section of U.S. 2 due to rocks, trees and mud.
More than 17,000 customers in Washington had lost electricity by Wednesday night, according to PowerOutage.us.
The Skagit River is expected to crest at roughly 47 feet (14.3 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete early Thursday, and roughly 41 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon early Friday.
“We feel very confident that we can handle a ‘normal flood,’ but no one really knows what a 41, 42 foot river looks like south of Mount Vernon," Darrin Morrison, a commissioner for Dike District 3 in Skagit County, said during a public meeting Wednesday night.
The county was closing non-essential government services on Thursday, including all district and superior court services.
Flooding from the river has long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in the county with some 35,000 residents. Flooding in 2003 displaced hundreds of people.
The city completed a floodwall in 2018 that helps protect the downtown. It passed a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels.
But the city is on high alert. The historic river levels expected Friday could top the wall, and some are worried that older levees could fail.
“It could potentially be catastrophic,” said Ellen Gamson, executive director of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association.
Jake Lambly added sandbags, tested water pumps and moved valuables to the top floor of the home he shares with his 19-year-old son.
“This is my only asset,” he said Wednesday from his front porch. “I got nothing else.”
Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as “a jet stream of moisture” stretching across the Pacific Ocean “with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.”
In Sumas, a small city along the U.S.-Canada border, a flood siren rang out at city hall and residents were told to leave. The border crossing was also closed to southbound commercial vehicles to leave more room for evacuations, according to the Abbotsford Police Department.
Climate change has been linked to some intense rainfall. Scientists say that without specific study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but in general it’s responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.
Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday.
“The pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays," Rademacher said.
Rush reported from Portland, Oregon. Associated Press writers Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle; Martha Bellisle in Issaquah, Washington; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.
A flag ripples in the wind as snow falls in Lowville, New York, on Tuesday night, Dec. 9, 2025. The area faces a winter storm warning through Thursday. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)
Rescue workers with Chehalis Fire venture into a flooded neighborhood to pick up evacuees after heavy rains, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Chehalis, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A man checks on a car caught in flooding after heavy rains Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Napavine, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
