October 5, London. Getty Images (NYSE: GYI), the world's leading imagery company, has acquired Bongarts Sportfotografie GmbH, the leading sports photography agency in Germany, and its sister company, Sportimage Fotoagentur GmbH, an international sports imagery distributor. The acquisitions provide Getty Images customers with a greater choice of German material as well as exceptional distribution of editorial sports imagery in Germany and other German-speaking markets.
Founded 20 years ago, Bongarts Sportfotografie GmbH covers more than 1000 global sports events each year and is both content creator and distributor, combining a wire service, stock imagery and assignment photography. Bongarts content is 100% wholly-owned.
Sportimage Fotoagentur GmbH was founded in 1994 as an affiliate of Bongarts and distributes imagery from international partners in German-speaking countries. It focuses on fulfilling special requests from customers with pictures from around the world through its network of 80 international partners.
"The acquisition of Bongarts Sportfotografie and Sportimage Fotoagentur will significantly strengthen our expertise in sports imagery in the German market, as well as our relationships with German sports clubs and governing bodies," says Adrian Murrell, VP Editorial, Getty Images. "With the acquisition of these two companies, we are well positioned to provide customers a full range of sports imagery relevant to German-speaking audiences."
This follows the acquisition in June this year of Elance Media GMBH, a German provider of news, entertainment and sports photography to newspapers, magazines and websites across Europe, furthering reinforcing Getty Images' position in one of the largest editorial markets in Europe.
"I am delighted to be joining forces with Getty Images" says Lutz Bongarts, Joint Managing Director of Bongarts. "Having built a leading sports imagery business and distribution platform in Germany, this deal provides a wonderful opportunity for German sports imagery to be more readily available on a world scale. We are looking forward to enhancing Getty Images local knowledge and further developing its position as a leading photo agency."
About Getty Images
Getty Images is the world's leading imagery company, creating and providing the largest and most relevant collection of still and moving images to communication professionals around the globe. From news and sports photography to contemporary and archival imagery, Getty Images' products are found each day in newspapers, magazines, advertising, films, television, books and Web sites. Gettyimages.com is the first place customers turn to search, purchase and download powerful imagery. Seattle-headquartered Getty Images is a global company with customers in more than 100 countries.
About Bongarts Sportfotografie GmbH und Sportimage Fotoagentur GmbH
Bongarts Sportfotografie GmbH offers worldwide photography covering over 1000 major sporting events a year, including all major world championships, the German premier soccer league, the complete Formula One racing season and the Olympic Games. For more than 20 years, Bongarts has been one of the world's largest specialist agencies for sports photography, with its own photo production department. Sportimage emerged from the Bongarts agency at the end of 1994, and serves as a worldwide distributor, providing sports photography for the media in the German-speaking world.
