An old rumor finally becomes reality: only ten days before the next conference call on January 31st, the New York Times reports today "Getty Images Up for Sale, Could Fetch $1.5 Billion": "Final bids are due by the end of the month".
There will be a lot of noise later about the company´s evaluation, given that "for the full year 2007, Getty Images expects revenue of approximately $850 million, this implies revenue of approximately $210 million for the fourth quarter of 2007", and a gloomy future for this industry in general.
And, besides the greater economical situation in general today and new developments in the picture industry in particular, to which extent microstock, crowd-sourcing and user-generated content are partly responsible for this decision.
How long is it on Getty Images´radar to sell the company? CEO Jonathan Klein moved to New York in late summer last year, and the decision about this move, officially announced in early August and unofficially in July, had been taken way earlier.
Finally: who is going to acquire Getty Images? If it´s a buyer from outside of the stock photo industry, what are the consequences? Will the agency possibly be cut into pieces and its parts sold separately?
