The $3.7bn merger of rival image providersGettyandShutterstockcould lead to a “substantial lessening of competition” in the editorial market in the UK, a watchdog has warned.

This would include time sensitive pictures and videos from major breaking news events, red carpets and other celebrity moments, and sporting events, as well as archive content of newsworthy people and events.

The Competition and Markets Authority said, however, it had no concerns on the impact of the deal on the global supply of stock images licensed for commercial purposes by, for example, advertisers – something done by Getty via Getty Images and iStock, as well as Shutterstock.

This is is in part because of the growth of generative AI to produce stock imagery as well as the fact there are major competitors such as Adobe and Canva in the market.

The competition body has now invited comments on its interim finding ahead of making a final ruling on whether the deal can go ahead in its current form.

Getty and Shutterstock, which are both listed in the US but have substantial operations in the UK, announced their plan to merge in January 2025. They said the benefits would include a bigger content library for customers, more opportunities for contributors, and more ability for them to invest in product development and innovation including in generative AI.

But the CMA expressed concerns that the deal could result in higher subscription costs for UK news outlets. The deal is currently on hold while an investigation takes place.

The regulator said Getty was the “clear UK market leader in editorial content”, with customers seeing it as “strong” on archive, entertainment, news and sports content, and would be combining with one of a small number of rivals.

Once merged with Shutterstock, which the CMA said was seen as “having a good offering across all content types” but which particularly competes with Getty on entertainment images, the new business would supply “close to or above” half of the UK market.

“Barriers to entry and expansion are high and we have not seen evidence of likely entry or expansion by rival suppliers in the next few years,” the CMA said.

Source: Press Gazette