The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially extended its inquiry into the anticipated acquisition of Shutterstock, Inc. by Getty Images Holdings, Inc., moving the statutory deadline for a final report to June 14, 2026. This decision follows the publication of an interim report which provisionally concluded that the merger may result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the supply of editorial content within the UK. The extension provides the Inquiry Group with an additional eight weeks to navigate the complex assessment of a fast-evolving market, specifically regarding the competitive constraints introduced by Generative AI.
The regulator’s concerns center on the concentrated nature of the editorial content market, where Getty Images is identified as the “clear market leader” across archive, entertainment, news, and sports segments. While Shutterstock is a smaller player, the CMA views it as one of the few “material alternatives” to Getty, particularly in the entertainment sector where Shutterstock’s Backgrid and Splash News brands provide “hard paparazzi” content that is highly substitutable with Getty’s offerings. Aside from these two giants, the only primary competition comes from a limited number of newswires such as Reuters, Associated Press, and PA Media/Alamy.
To mitigate these competitive risks, the CMA is currently consulting on several potential remedies. These include the “Parties’ Remedy Proposal,” which would involve the global divestiture of the Splash News and Backgrid brands, and a more comprehensive “Wider Shutterstock Editorial Divestiture” that adds the Rex Features content platform to the package. In the most restrictive scenario, the CMA is also considering a full prohibition of the merger to maintain market independence.
Who Can Buy the Assets?
The proposed divestitures are likely to address the antitrust concerns found by the CMA, but the real question is who will acquire these assets?
While the other competitors would be the prime candidates to buy them, most are cutting costs and figuring out how to address the wave of images generated with AI.
Alternatively, other companies willing to buy digital assets are big tech companies, especially those looking to train their own AI models. The problem with these buyers is that they won’t guarantee the business’s long-term viability because they are betting on their own AI tools to generate images.
How did the Market react?
At the moment of writing this article, Getty is losing 1.2% and Shutterstock is flat. Normally, when a regulator announces the consideration of remedies—especially after raising significant concerns about a deal—the market welcomes the news, as a merger closing nears.
However, in this case, either the market has not weighed in on the news yet, or investors are also considering whether divestitures are a real possibility or even the impact they will have on the claimed efficiencies of the merger.
The Inquiry Group noted that the complexity of evaluating these “carve-out” businesses and their future viability as standalone entities constitutes the “special reasons” required for the extension. Throughout March and April 2026, the CMA will hold hearings and review responses from interested third parties to determine which remedy—or combination of measures—will most effectively protect the interests of UK customers.